


Uzumaki: The Wizarding Era

by seafieldbelowly



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Betrayal, Bigotry & Prejudice, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Female Protagonist, Friendship, Growing Up, Hogwarts, Humor, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Minor Character Death, Naruto Has Friends, Original Character(s), Sasuke & Naruto Rivalry, Sasuke's groupies, Seals/fuinjutsu, Shinobi/Civilian tension, Uzumaki Naruto Has a Twin, and had a couple of children after the twins, and they're pretty different, because Minato and Kushina lived, but still love each other, no beta we die like men, pranks because Naruto, uzumaki family fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 57,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28156014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seafieldbelowly/pseuds/seafieldbelowly
Summary: In a world where Wizards and shinobi co-exist, Mikano Uzumaki, twin of Naruto and best friend of Sasuke, can't wait to go to Hogwarts. Then one great tailed, furry surprise turns her life upside down and things start falling apart. OCs. Crossover AU. Will get considerably darker with time.Updates every Saturday
Kudos: 2





	1. Naruto Uzumaki AKA the bane of Ollivander and his parents' peace of mind

**Author's Note:**

> You're reading fanfiction so as you might have guessed I'm neither JK Rowling nor Masashi Kishimoto. I don't own anything in here that you recognise from their stories:)

There was dumb, and then there was retarded. Mikano's twin definitely classified for the latter category. This was one of many things Sasuke Uchiha and she agreed on.

Okay, maybe Naruto wasn't actually that stupid - though he certainly acted it sometimes!

"I swear, he's a downright embarrassment in public," Mikano huffed. The sky was blue with lots of puffy white clouds. Lying on your back on the roof of one of Konoha's many tall buildings made for the perfect vantage point to pick out shapes.

"Hn."

"I've seriously considered pretending not to know him at Hogwarts."

"I sure am."

"Ha." While Mikano knew Sasuke very well might go through with it, she never could. Despite Naruto's more obnoxious sides, she loved him too much not to own it. Though she did wish he would tone it down a bit.

"I think he almost killed Mr Ollivander yesterday," Mikano continued, and without waiting for Sasuke's reply began recounting the events.

The bell above _Ollivanders'_ front door hadn't even stopped chiming before Naruto ran forward, almost knocking over his dad, and poked his head over the shop's counter. He was wearing the ugly orange and blue jumpsuit that clashed horribly with his blond, spiky hair as always, and black sandals that gave him lots of bounce as he jumped excitedly up and down trying to get a better look at the back of _Ollivianders'_ front desk. A hand grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him back.

"Naruto, will you please behave," said Kushina in a dangerous tone that indicated that this was not the first time such a request had been voiced. She kept a tight grip on her son's jacket as she called out, "Mr Ollivander?"

A squeaked, "Coming!" and a rustle were heard from the back of the shop which looked more like an ancient library than a place where you sold things, except with small boxes on the shelves instead of books. A tiny wizard in robes that looked as ancient as the man himself appeared among the shelves after a moment.

"Ah, first wands, I reckon?" He clapped his wrinkly hands together with an excited gleam in his eyes. His voice was high and crusty. "Yes, yes, I have already had two Hogwarts students-to-be come by today! Always a lot of business in July." He winked and beckoned Mikano's dad closer with a finger. Minato smiled politely and presented Mr Olliviander with the wand he had just procured from a wand holster attached to his forearm.

"Hmm, stylish, stylish, though not one of mine," he mumbled glancing at the wand holster, "a shinobi, I reckon. Now, let's see…" He looked at the wand intently, gently turning it between his fingers. "Yes, of course. Twelve and a quarter inches, pear and unicorn. Nice and bendy. A versatile wand, powerful but with a gentle temper, yes, yes. Well-used, I can tell, but also well taken care of…" He handed back the wand with a satisfied nod then turned to the other adult who was still occupied with restraining the blond boy who had now taken an interest in the wands on display in the windows facing the bustling street outside.

"May I?" he asked. Kushina handed over Naruto's jacket collar to her husband then let her wand shoot into her hand with a flick of the wrist. This time the old man made no comment, simply accepting the wand with a hum.

"Ten and a half inches, hawthorn and dragon heartstring. A wilful combination. Unyielding, to be expected," he said, mostly to himself. "A good match for a fierce witch." He gave back the wand with a broad smile. "Now, shall we? The young man first perhaps?"

"Naruto, come here," Kushina called out, "it's wand time."

At this point, Mikano, who had so far been quietly inspecting a selection of wand holsters on the left side wall, snorted and turned around to face her family. Ollivander noticed.

"Or perhaps the young lady first?" He motioned for her to come closer. "Why not, why not." Mikano complied, her pursed lips not entirely masking the excitement in her storm grey eyes. A wand! She had barely been able to sleep last night for nervous anticipation. Of course, it hadn't helped that Sasuke had gotten his a whole week ago.

(Sasuke snorted.)

A measuring tape popped into existence at a wave of Ollivander's wand, and it began taking measurements up and down her body. While this was happening, Olliviander tapped his lips with a knobbly finger as he stared raptly at his subject. Then he turned around with an abrupt movement and started down one of the shelf aisles while muttering to himself. He returned with a box as the measuring tape snapped shut and disappeared in with a puff.

"Elm and dragon heartstring. 10 inches, very supple." He opened the case and let Mikano pick up the wand inside. As she gave it a little flick, a string of thick smoke slouched from the wand tip and spiralled towards the floor.

"No!" The old man deftly snatched back the wand, returning it to its package as he disappeared among the shelves again. Mikano shifted, biting the inside of her cheek until Olliviander quickly returned with three new boxes.

"Elm! What was I thinking! Now, here is a nice ash wand, unicorn tail, eleven inches, a little on the stiff side. Pick it up!" She had barely touched the wood before also this wand was picked from her grip with a hearty chuckle. Ollivander kept bringing new wands till a minor mountain of boxes was piled on his counter. His initial failure to find Mikano a match did not seem to dissuade him in the least. Rather, with every case he brought, he seemed to become more animated.

Then, as she tried what seemed to Mikano to be the hundredth wand, an idle swish made a flock of tiny, chirping bluebirds flutter from the wand tip. She beamed excitedly at her dad who had been watching, unable to contain her happiness as a deep feeling of recognition and _rightness_ shuddered from her wand arm through her body.

"Eleven inches, flexible, cherry wood and phoenix feather. Independent qualities from both the cherry and phoenix, powerful, powerful indeed. Requires a strong mind to master," he glanced at Mikano, old eyes appraising, "which should not be an issue… yes, yes, a good match I suppose." He nodded. "Now to the other one. Where…" Naruto was nowhere in sight.

"NARUTO!" Kushina yelled. A mighty crash sounded from the deep interior of the wand shop.

Their mum moaned. "Sir, I am so sorry…" Then she ducked around the counter and started towards the crash that had just sounded. An awkward silence ensued with the ancient Olliviander gripping the edge of his counter looking a little pale.

A number of thumps and exclamations were heard from behind the shelves and finally Kushina whose face was now the same colour as her hair emerged dragging her son behind her by the shoulder of his jacket.

"I know we should have put a leash on him," she told Minato, then turned to the wandmaker. "Sir, I am terribly sorry. I have no idea what he was doing back there but it is quite a mess. A shelf fell over and there are boxes all over the floor - I am not sure if anything broke, but either way, we will of course pay for…"

Ollivander broke her off with a wave. "No matter, accidents happen." He stared at the little blond delinquent who was sporting an unrepentant grin, arms stubbornly crossed in front of his chest. "I know just the wand for you," Ollivander said pensively and trotted away into the labyrinth of shelves. Then a muffled yell was heard.

"Quite a mess, yes," he said a little weakly as he returned with a box under his arm. "Now, young man, try this one out! I'm rather sure…" he stopped. "This is not English oak. This is not-" he snapped the box shut, nearly catching Naruto's fingers. "Boy!" His voice was shrill, "what, exactly, were you doing back there?"

"Just a prank," Naruto said in a singsong voice; the tone that made Mikano want to strangle him.

"Just a prank! Switching around the wands! Never have I…" the old man trailed off, fuming. "No, no English oak for you, oh no." He turned on his heel and marched towards the right wall. He used a ladder to nimbly reach the highest shelf from which he drew out a box.

Mikano tucked one of Naruto's blond spikes. Hard.

"You're such a clown, naphat," she whispered in his ear and poked him in the ribs with an elbow. She felt her dad put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up and he smiled calmly at her with amusement in his sky blue eyes. She stopped berating her brother. By then the old wandmaker had returned and put the wand box down on the counter with a clank.

"Try this one," he said and rubbed his hands together. Mikano thought the gleam in his watery eyes was rather unnerving. Apparently, Naruto thought so as well as he warily clicked open the box and picked up the wand inside. He made an expressive flick towards the ceiling and a number of bright red sparks shot out with a boom that made everybody in the room jump.

"Dragon heartstring and cedar. Eleven inches, like your sister's, but more springy than flexible. Now, that would be 14 Galleons in total." The money changed hands. "And now you must have a lovely day." The frail old man all but ushered them from his shop.

Out on the street, Kushina hid her still red face in her hands.

"Naruto. _Must_ you antagonize each and every person you encounter?"

"I was nice to the robe lady," Naruto countered while waving around his new wand. Mikano had stored hers, still in its box, safely in one of the inner pockets of the black jacket she wore over her favourite sleeveless blue dress. It would be properly unpacked in the safety of her room.

"Naruto, you pulled out and hid every pin she put in your Hogwarts uniform!"

"But I didn't put them on her chair with the point up even though that would have been a really obvious thing to do."

"You could have just stood and let poor Madam Malkin do her job as Mikano did!"

Naruto blew a raspberry at this and Minato quickly broke in before the argument could escalate further:

"Shouldn't we go check _Florean Fortescue II's Ice-cream Parlour_ to see if Akari and Esther finished their shopping? We agreed to meet them there about now." He kissed his wife on her cheek and she exhaled with a huff.

"Naruto, if you don't behave for the rest of this trip, we won't buy you an owl," she told her son in definitive voice. Then she turned around, grabbed Minato's hand and began marching down the bustling street which was crowded with bodies and sounds under the warm July sun.

Behind her, a high-pitched and painfully aggrieved voice cried, "But you promised!"

In the end, Naruto had gotten his owl. Naturally, he had picked the largest owl he could possibly find in _Eeylop's Owl Imperium_ , a dignified male Mr Eeylop identified as of the species great grey owl. And certainly it was great, and grey, with a face flat and round like a plate. Mikano chose a sweet, female tawny owl with reddish-brown feathers and large black eyes that gave it a permanently surprised expression. She named her Duchess.

"I'll have her bring you a letter later if you'd like to meet her." Mikano chuckled. "If only you give her a treat, she'll be sure to like you."

"Sure. Hey, that one looks like Madara Uchiha in profile." Sasuke extended an arm towards the sky and Mikano's eyes followed the direction indicated by his finger.

"It actually does," Mikano acknowledged. Drawings of the Valley at the End and the two great statues there featured in most of the Academy's history books.

Mikano enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her skin for another moment before pushing up on her elbows. "I'm going home. I promised Nene I'd play with her after lunch."

Sasuke eyed her without moving. He was lying in the shadow of the wall, his pale skin much more vulnerable to sunburn than Mikano's. "You don't wanna go practice throwing kunai?"

Mikano thought for a moment. "Is Itachi home?"

Sasuke raised a thin, dark eyebrow. "No?"

"Then I'm going home," Mikano decided, sitting up.

Sasuke followed, huffing. "Miki, you're such a fangirl, it's annoying."

"As if you're one to talk!" If Mikano had a teeny tiny crush on Sasuke's older brother, it was nothing against the adoration and admiration Sasuke felt towards him.

Instead of answering, Sasuke only frowned. "He's out on a mission. _Again_. As always." Mikano had heard it before. The 'Itachi is never home, he's always so busy, he's at Hogwarts all year and then he might as well be during the breaks too for all I see him' tirade. This time, Sasuke cut himself off.

"Why are you still here then?" he said again.

"Prat," Mikano mumbled, getting up. "See you tomorrow."

Sasuke didn't answer and Mikano didn't need him to. A smile played around her lips as she climbed the emergency stairs, fingering the smooth length of wood in her dress pocket.

The Uzumaki family's living room had cream-coloured walls, one of them covered floor to ceiling with moving photos in varying sizes. The largest one was centred at eye-height and depicted six people standing in front of a large cliff wall into which four mighty faces were carved. A man with blond hair and sky blue eyes was crouching next to two children looking around the age of seven. One had bright red hair to her shoulders, high bangs framing her whisker-marked cheeks (two lines on each), and large grey eyes which seemed to stare right through time and space at the onlooker. Her face bore a long-suffering expression of please-get-me-away-from-here.

That might be explained by the boy next to her who had his arm slung around her neck so that her cheek was pressed against his own. The boy had spiky hair the same colour as the man's, three whisker-like markings on each cheek, and he sported a grin so wide his cerulean eyes were closed to make space for it. The arm not used for strangulating the red-head next to him was stretched out towards to camera, waving two fingers stuck up in a V.

On the crouching man's shoulder sat a toddler, a baby girl with flat blond hair that shone with a strawberry glow in the sun, and her fists buried deep within the yellow mess in front of her. Her mouth was open in childish excitement and from the man's half smile, half grimace, you could tell she was probably tugging rather forcefully at his roots.

On the other side of the seven-year-olds stood a woman with her hands resting on the shoulders of a boy half a head shorter than the two besides him. The woman had beet red hair reaching below her waist. Her smile was proud; the apron she wore over her t-shirt housewifely. The boy in front of her had friendly blue eyes and was smiling shyly, hands hidden away in his trouser pockets. His hair had the same shocking red hue as the woman's but stuck up just like the man's instead of lying flat on his head.

"2006" was drawn in the upper right corner of the picture in black ink.

The dining table which was usually spacious, even with six occupants, had become crowded when four more seats were added.

"Wow, Minato, this lasagne is really delicious," a woman with brown hair and crow feet at the corners of her eyes said, "I wish my husband was as good a cook as you." She glanced at her red-headed husband with a half-teasing, half-accusing glint in her eyes.

Minato laughed. "Thank you, Esther. With praise like that, you and Akari are always welcome to come over any time you feel like eating out." He sighed and looked at Naruto. "It will be so quiet from tomorrow on."

"Yeah, it always takes some getting used to the quiet in September." Akari grinned wryly, "I can't believe there will be _four_ Uzumaki at Hogwarts this year. Headmistress McGonagall is going to get a run for her money."

"Naruto, eat your veggies. I can tell you're smuggling them into your lap," Kushina interjected. "My, you are gonna die of malnutrition at Hogwarts with no one to look after you. Umiyo, promise me you'll force-feed my son the greens if he is sorted into your house."

Umiyo quickly got her own hand out of her lap and discretely wiped squash sauce off her fingers on a tissue.

"Sure thing Auntie," she grinned and tucked a lock of bob-cut brown hair behind her ear. "S'pose Naru are bound for Gryffindor."

_Only because Hogwarts doesn't have a house for pure idiots_ , thought Mikano dryly.

Umiyo was a year older than Mikano and Naruto and would never let them hear the end of it. Especially since last summer when she got to attend Hogwarts a year before the twins and took to writing weekly letters to Naruto detailing how simply _brilliant_ a time she was having. Mikano wrote most of it off as unfounded bragging, which both her brother and cousin most annoyingly were rather prone to, but still could not help sigh wistfully for the day she herself would have Hogwarts adventures to write home about.

Minato swallowed thickly. "You have grown up so fast, you two," he said looking at Mikano and Naruto with misty eyes. "It seems like just yesterday you three were rolling around on top of each other in your onesies, teething on the handles of your mother's kunai…"

"You're such a sap, Dad," said Naruto making a face.

"I wasn't leaving them lying around," Kushina declared quickly as if she wanted that fact established, "it was Mikano who constantly summoned them from our weapons stash. No lock could keep them from her, it would just," she made a popping sound, "bust open. In the end, I had to seal them away in a scroll. But then she started summoning them from strangers walking by-"

Esther laughed heartily. "Don't worry Kushina dear. We aren't doubting your abilities as a responsible parent." She put down her cutlery. "It can't be easy for all-shinobi parents. I get why you quit the field after the twins, Kushina. Especially with all the extra hours you, Minato, as the Hokage, get in the office." She laughed. "If Akari and I had had another two nippers I _surely_ would have byed my ministry job as well with all the time Akari spends in the shop."

At least Meromaru, born two years after Naruto and Mikano, had been an easy child. Even now, he was sitting quietly in his chair, cutting his lasagne into meticulous squares. Nene, the youngest, on the other hand, was entertaining herself by dipping her long, strawberry blond bangs in her water glass to make wet swipes at Naruto with the locks whenever he looked away.

Akari huffed. "I can't help that quality rune work is in high demand."

"You could hire an assistant."

"Mido is the best assistant I could get." At this, Mido, Mikano's eldest cousin about to start her fourth year at Hogwarts, looked down, a small smile on her lips.

" _Mido_ is at Hogwarts five sixth of the year."

"Nobody but an Uzumaki would be up to par."

"Then make somebody up to par! Take on an apprentice!"

"The Uzumaki Seal Shop is a family business."

"You're not making it easy for yourself then, seeing as there is only a handful of you left."

That caused an awkward silence. Even Nene ceased her antics, and Naruto stopped slapping at her. Mikano looked down at her plate, neatly scraped clean. She fiddled with the hem of her dress under the table.

Minato cleared his throat. "We shouldn't be talking about us tonight! This is a farewell feast. We should celebrate the ascent of youth into adulthood, not argue about mundane things like work." He smiled at his family sitting around the table.

Mikano snorted at her father's words. 'Ascent into adulthood.' If Naruto was an adult, she was a lumberjack.

"Hogwarts," Akari said slowly, "a place of dreams. I wish I could have had more than two years there."

Mikano had heard the story before. Her mother had been enrolled at Hogwarts instead of the Uzushio College on the Hidden Uzu-Island which would have been standard procedure for a young girl of the Uzumaki clan. Uzumaki had been one of the largest and most powerful clans affiliated with Konoha before it was wiped out, island and all, during the tension-filled years leading up to the Fourth Great Shinobi War. When Kushina went to Hogwarts, Akari had, for reasons unknown to Mikano, gone too, transferring to Hogwarts for his sixth and seventh year.

"Yes. I had a lovely time there. Hogwarts was where I met your dad," Kushina winked at her children. Though they had heard the story many times before they still settled in, grinning. Kushina continued: "At first I thought he was a bit of a wimp, your dad."

Minato chuckled good-naturedly.

"I suppose he was," she said, glancing teasingly at her husband.

"Kushina!" Minato exclaimed, mock-hurt in his voice.

"He was just a meek little Hufflepuff," she went on, leaning back in her chair with a smug smile. "The pride of his house. Such a smart puff! It went over their heads how he had not been placed in Ravenclaw with all the other nerds."

Minato groaned.

"Either way, he was way too soft for a lioness like me." She flicked her hair, earning a laugh from Umiyo. "Or so I thought…" She smiled at her husband who smiled back. "It was Christmas during my third year and I was staying a couple of days in Konoha before going back to my family in Uzushio. That was when it happened…" she lowered her voice dramatically, "I was kidnapped!"

Naruto let out a theatrical gasp and clasped his hands over his mouth. "You wasn't!"

Mikano could not help but laugh. Even Akari's mouth twitched.

"I was!" Kushina exclaimed with mock-seriousness, widening her grey eyes, leaning forward. "It was in the middle of the night and they picked me right out of my bed! Nobody noticed before the next day and by then I was long gone… Of course, they sent out search parties when they finally caught on but they found nothing! I had mysteriously, tracelessly disappeared," she paused for effect. "Except… I hadn't! But only your dad here, who I had never credited with anything more than being a sissy, noticed the trail of red strands I had made sure to leave behind as I was taken away." She sniffed in affected arrogance. "They had it coming, underestimating an Uzumaki!

"Either way, they hadn't gotten me far before Minato caught up. Only thirteen years of age and already able to take on three grown shinobi. Quite the prodigy," she winked at her husband, then yawned. "Well, we fell in love after that. Or rather, I fell in love with him - you were already quite head-over-heels with me by then, weren't you, babe?" Minato grinned.

"Guilty as charged," he confessed and put his hand over Kushina's where it lay on the tabletop.

"I used to hate my red hair - the other children called me _Tomato_ \- but your dad made me change my mind. I now consider it the red thread of fate that brought us together." She smiled knowingly, squeezing her husband's hand.

"I do love your hair," Minato said, looking at his wife in a way that made Naruto make silent gag motions, causing Umiyo to laugh out loud.

Mikano pursed her lips, frowning. "Mum, you've told that story so many times I've lost count, but you've never explained _why_ you were kidnapped in the first place."

Minato stiffened and Kushina snatched her hand away from his on the table. Akari furrowed his brows and caught Kushina's eyes. Her cheeks gained a faint angry glow as she pushed back her chair and stood up swiftly.

"That's a story for another time," she said briskly. She yawned, though it looked a little strained this time. Her cheeks were still pink. "Look at the time!" she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, "already past eight! You better get on your way so we'll all be ready for the trip to London tomorrow. It was lovely to have you over. Feel free to come again soon so we won't get lonely without our troublesome offspring." She picked up the nearest lasagne tray and stomped out into the kitchen.

As Akari, Esther, Mido and Umiyo said their goodbyes and left, Mikano turned to her dad and raised an eyebrow.

What had all that been about?


	2. Introducing Mikano's fangirl side and a billion side characters

Mikano recognised the song playing on the ministry car's radio as "A cauldron full of hot strong love" by Celestina Warbeck. She couldn't believe they were still playing that garbage in 2010. She was not going to ask the stern, grey-stubbled ministry driver to change the channel though, not when he had a nerve twitching under his clenched jaw like that.

If he wanted to listen to cringe last-millennium love songs, she would live and let live. Especially because her drag of a brother had already aggravated him so thoroughly before they even got in the car that the poor man would probably blow up at the slightest disruption.

Turned out the supposedly indestructible ministry car wheels were not _entirely_ invincible if only the explosive tags were placed _just right_ between the spokes. A fact Naruto chose to point out in a rather incendiary, hands-on manner followed by a rant on the dangers of false advertisement (a concept Mikano was surprised Naruto knew but supposed the shop-savvy Umiyo might have contributed with).

The ministry driver had looked at the man, whose children, relatives and person he was supposed to pick up, completely dumbstruck. Minato had smiled apologetically while the chauffeur appeared to be having an aneurism, casting _Aguamenti_ on the resulting fire.

The naphat was sleeping now, drooling all over his jumpsuit and Umiyo's shoulder where he rested his head. Umiyo did not seem to mind, busy as she was drooling all over Naruto's hair in return.

Some people simply were not meant to get out of bed before noon. Or be let out of the house.

Mikano huffed and stuck a bookmark in the textbook lying in her lap. At least they were almost at King's Cross. Outside the toned windows, London was shooting past as they sped down a highway. The car bobbed funnily due to its three-wheeled state remedied by magic. Good thing, Mikano's dad was a genius at do-it-yourself magic. Or actually just a genius, period.

Even more than Itachi, Minato was Mikano's great idol. He was the most capable person she knew, the smartest, the kindest. He was the Hokage, the protector and leader of Konoha, the shinobi village allied to Magical Britain.

"Have a nice day sir," said the ministry driver stiffly after dropping off his nine passengers (Akari couldn't make it) and their luggage in front of King's Cross Station. He stalked back to his rather scorched car which roared to life and shot out of its parking space like Naruto from a museum, clearly keen to get away.

King's Cross was crowded. Muggles in black suits and women in jeans were walking distractedly amongst each other, glancing at their watches every other second. Mikano could not help but think how _busy_ they all seemed living their quiet, ordinary lives. It was strange to think about how they got on without magic. Still, even stranger was the thought that most of them would be completely foreign to war and violence. True, the last Great Shinobi War had ended twelve years ago, but Konoha shinobi still died on a regular basis carrying out missions across Europe to earn the money which kept Konoha running.

Mikano had gotten used to death, and to the idea of dying herself, years ago. All adults in Konoha had graves they visited on a regular basis and a number of Mikano's classmates from the Academy were orphans. Yes, the world of these hurried muggles was almost too bizarrely peaceful to comprehend.

By now her dad had procured a number of trolleys for the luggage and they began moving through the crowd. The adults knew the way and soon they were standing in front of the wall dividing Platform 9 and 10. Naruto was sure Umiyo was kidding him when she told him he had to run _through the_ _wall_. Mido rolled her eyes, light brown like her mother's, and demonstrated, her little owl flapping its wings as the trolley gained speed. After she had gone through, Naruto was all eager to follow. Mikano went after him, clenching her teeth as the wall approached.

On the other side, her eyes went wide. Sounds, smells, and visual stimuli assaulted her senses. A cacophony of sounds which had not been present on the muggle side of King's Cross filled the high-ceilinged hall. Owls' hoots, cats' meowing, the deep wheezing of a great, red steam locomotive on the tracks. The station smelled like summer air, people and steam. It was a nice combination Mikano had not experienced before. She immediately decided it was a great smelltrack to accompany her first boarding of the Hogwarts Express.

She moved towards the wall to make space for the people milling around until the rest of her family arrived through the passage. She spent the time searching for familiar faces among the sea of robe-clad bodies and behatted heads.

Two things made the shinobi easier to spot. Firstly, most were not wearing robes but rather casual shinobi fashion which often included magically reinforced mesh and bandages made from spell-resistant silkworm cocoons. Secondly, most civilians gave the shinobi a wide berth.

The first person she spotted was Shikamaru Nara who was easily recognisable by his rather pineapple-shaped, dark ponytail. He was standing beside his parents, and perhaps the distance distorted her vision but if she was not mistaken, his cheeks had quite a green hue. His expression was the same as always: eyebrows knitted, dark eyes half-lidded, the corners of his mouth turned down in bored distaste.

Mikano smiled and kept sweeping the crowds with her eyes. She noticed the Akimichis, a rather… _heavyset_ family with a boy Mikano's age named Choji. A few meters from them was standing the Inuzuka family. Those were given an extra-wide berth by the civilians, courtesy of the huge dogs they brought everywhere. They had two children, a seventh year named Hana and a boy, Kiba, who was starting this year. Like all other Inuzukas, Kiba had red triangles on his cheeks, a bit like Naruto's "whiskers", and a canine familiar, a little white dog who liked to chill on Kiba's head.

She moved on, looking for one family in particular. But no, no Uchiha. Except… Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, recognisable by the black hair in a low ponytail and the Uchiha crest on his shirt, was standing alone facing a girl with brown hair and a mole under one of her large dark eyes. The crowd shifted and Mikano noticed Itachi was holding her hands.

Mikano's heart sank and she quickly looked away. She knew it was just a stupid crush but _knowing_ that did not make the hurt go away. Clenching her teeth, she suddenly realized the person on which her eyes had landed was a girl she had spotted last week at Diagon.

She had noticed the girl because she had been nursing an ice cream alone at _Fortescue II's,_ in stark contrast with the many couples and families gathered there. Mikano remembered her, both for the fact that she had been pretty with her dark curls pulled up in a ponytail despite her glare and unfriendly expression, and for the black _Ollivianders'_ wand box on the table beside her that told Mikano she would likely meet her at Hogwarts.

Now, the girl was looking just as surly as before, but this time, she wasn't alone. A tight-lipped, middle-aged woman in a high-collared robe was standing next to her, staring in the opposite direction of the girl.

Mikano suddenly became aware that her family would surely all have gone through the portal by now and began looking for them. She found them quickly as they made quite a large group. They seemed to all be there, except for Umiyo.

Kushina was pointing things on the platform out for Nene and Meromaru while a short witch in purple robes had laid claim to her father's attention. A civilian couple with a very beautiful, blond daughter was speaking animatedly to Esther.

As Mikano moved closer, their conversation became clearer.

"Umiyo has run off, no matter, this is Mido, my eldest. She is a fourth-year Gryffindor." Mido, tall with a smooth face and Uzumaki red hair like her dad, smiled at the little blond girl who looked like a child model in her slim jeans and V-necked pullover. Esther spotted Mikano.

"Ah, here is another one! Mikano, this is Victoire Weasley, a first-year like you. Victoire, this is my niece Mikano." Victoire smiled shyly and Mikano gave a little wave. "I know Bill and Fleur from my work in the Goblin Management Department. They both work at Gringotts."

Mikano looked interestedly at Mr and Mrs Weasley. The woman, Fleur, was strikingly gorgeous, her hair silvery-blond as her daughter's. The man had shoulder-length red hair and a trimmed beard, a thump-length claw dangling from an earlobe, and a face marked with thick, protruding scars that made him look rather bad-arse, like a battle-worn shinobi. She wondered where he had gotten them.

He had just opened his mouth, presumably to say a greeting when Naruto burst between them pushing his loaded trolley in front of him.

"Oi, Kiba, Choji! Wait up! Bye Mum, bye Dad," he called over his shoulder running towards the two friends he had just spotted boarding the train. "Bye Nene, Mero, Auntie."

"Eh Naruto!" Kushina yelled after him then gave up on reprimanding him. "Eat your greens!" she shouted instead. Mikano was pretty sure Naruto did not hear her.

She looked at the great platform clock. It was five minutes to eleven; they too should get on the train soon.

"Oh look, isn't that Mikoto and Sasuke? Mikoto!" Kushina called out and waved her arms above her head.

"'Morning," Mikoto said. Sasuke was wearing his usual outfit of white shorts and a blue Uchiha t-shirt, but today it was with the addition of a black cat draped across his shoulders. Mikano raised an eyebrow at him. He rolled his eyes but couldn't help his lips from twitching up. An excited glow tinted his usually fair cheeks.

"Mum, I think we should board soon. It's only a few minutes to departure," Mikano said, tucking her mother's apron.

Kushina clapped her hands together. "My, you're right Miki! 'Kay, let's get you settled."

"Sorry, Ms Civildock, I have to attend to my family now," Minato told the witch whom he had been talking with. "A study trip to Konoha sounds very interesting, please owl my secretary and we'll figure out the details."

"Well, well, thank you Hokage!" the witch chuckled, her accent distinctively American, "I apologize for taking up your time on a day like today, I just so wanted to pitch you this idea myself. See you kids at Hogwarts then!" She bowed, real shinobi-style, and walked towards the Hogwarts Express with brisk steps that had her purse swing erratically.

The civilians' tendency to part like the Red Sea when a group of shinobi approached made it easy to find an empty entrance. A, one Minato's part tearful, goodbye later, Mido, Mikano, Sasuke and Victoire were standing inside the Hogwarts Express just as it began moving.

"Well, I'll go find my friends. See you later!" Mido waved and disappeared to the right. Mikano, Sasuke and Victoire were left standing in awkward silence.

Mikano cleared her throat. "Eh, Sasuke this is Victoire Weasley. Victoire, Sasuke Uchiha." Victoire smiled a dazzling smile and stuck out a delicate hand.

"Nice to meet you Sasuke," she said, batting her eyelashes.

Mikano groaned internally. Not another Sasuke groupie. Just because her best friend happened to be more handsome than the average eleven-year-old, preteens left and right were fainting at his sandaled feet.

Sasuke smiled politely and took her hand. "You too, Victoire."

"We should try to find a compartment before they all get filled," Mikano said a little sharply.

"Hn," Sasuke agreed.

The first compartment they checked was decidedly _not_ empty. A number of young girls had congregated inside it and Mikano recognised a couple from the Academy. The others appeared to be civilians. The moment Sasuke had slid open the door a high-pitched squeal erupted from the girl Mikano years ago had dubbed the pink-haired horror. Sasuke slammed the door shut and said in a voice that sounded a little choked:

"Not this one, move on."

They finally found an empty compartment and settled in. Victoire sat down next to Mikano with Sasuke across from them. The first thing Sasuke did after pushing his luggage under a seat, was picking the black cat off his shoulders and putting it, still sleeping, down on the seat beside him. At Mikano's questioning look, he said, "Mum thought I should bring one of Grandma Nekobaa's kittens." He smiled drily.

Nekobaa was a crazy cat lady who ran a supply store in the ghost city Sora-Ku. When they were younger, Itachi and Sasuke would often be sent there to collect pre-ordered wares for the Uchiha with Mikano sometimes tagging along. The eccentric lady had taken a liking to Sasuke.

Mikano hummed. "Does it speak?" Some of Nekobaa's cats knew English.

Sasuke snorted. "I doubt it. So far Dash has done little else than sleep and run his head into walls. I think he's pretty stupid, to be honest."

"I wish I had a pet," Victoire sighed, eyeing the sleeping cat and the two owls in their cages. One was Mikano's Duchess, the other Sasuke's, a black, little thing named Ibu. He had been given it by Itachi for his birthday in February; the fact that it had been a gift from his brother making him treasure the animal all the more.

"Anyway," Victoire continued, her eyes lighting up, "you are shinobi, right? You look like shinobi." Her voice was low and excited. "Dad has told me all kinds of stories about shinobi from his work in Spain. You're a bit like mercenaries, aren't you? Sometimes Dad and his team have to fight shinobi, sometimes Gringotts hire them to help with the curse-breaking." She had barely taken a breath while speaking.

"Is it true shinobi practice Dark magic and blood rituals that make them look strange and that they make deals with demons and that you'll kill anybody if paid enough?" she finished, her eyes wide open with fearful exhilaration.

After a moment of dumbstruck silence, Mikano laughed.

"I like the stories you civilians tell about us," she smiled mockingly at Victoire who turned a little pink. Then she flicked her silvery hair and said, turning up her chin:

"That is what I have heard."

"She's not completely off," Sasuke conceded, looking at Mikano. "Shinobi do kill for money. It's just a little more complicated than just that."

He continued, addressing Victoire, "Konoha, our shinobi village, is allied to Magical Britain and has been for some two hundred years. That means British wizards' missions get priority and we in exchange will be the government's go-to shinobi. We still do dealings with other magical nations but generally decline missions which obviously clash with British interests. Other shinobi villages around the world do things differently and some are less discriminate in the missions they take on. The shinobi your father encountered were probably Suna." He glanced at Mikano who shrugged.

"We weren't taught very much about the other four great shinobi villages in Europe," she added.

"Which are?" asked Victoire.

Mikano rolled her eyes. "Suna in Spain, Kiri in Sweden, Kumo in the Alps, Iwa in Russia and obviously Konoha in Wales. Also," she held up a finger, "shinobi traits like facial markings," she tapped the two strips on each of her cheeks, "and unnatural hair-colours are due to blood. They are passed on, not gained through some weird 'Dark' ritual. That phrasing is really biased by the way. Dark magic is not inherently evil though I know a lot of your civilian dark bloods went bonkers in the 90s."

"My Dad fought in that war! That was how he got his scars," Victoire ran a hand down her face mimicking her father's scars, grimacing.

"The Battle of Hogwarts, right?" Sasuke leaned forward.

"Yep," Victoire said proudly.

"Did you know that happened only half a year after the Fourth Great Shinobi war ended?"

Victoire gaped. "You have your own _wars_?"

"Four great ones and hundred minor," Sasuke confirmed.

"Wow…"

"Well, we do have this kind of parallel society, it's not really that strange for us to have our parallel wars too."

"Still, I didn't know."

"You're eleven."

Victoire eyed him. "So are you."

"But I'm a shinobi."

"I think you are a bit arrogant."

"I think you're impertinent."

"You don't even know what that means!"

"I do too!"

The compartment door slid open. Shikamaru stuck his face in, complexion still faintly green.

"Oh, it's you," he said. He slipped inside and shut the door behind him. "I've been looking for your brother, Kiba, and Choji since we took off," he told Mikano, "but I have begun doubting they are even on the train."

Mikano groaned. "I hope he's not getting into trouble before we've even _arrived_ at Hogwarts. Mum will have a stroke." She paused. "How come you look so green, Shika?"

"And where is your luggage?" added Sasuke, looking perturbed. Victoire was staring pointedly out the window.

Shikamaru yawned and sat down next to Sasuke. "We took the Night Bus. Don't ask. My mum thought it would be _fun_." His upper lip curled up at the last word. "Not recommendable, I threw up in a bag. And as for luggage, I made my mum buy me a pouch with an undetectable extension charm. It's all in here," he clapped a trouser pocket. "Suitcases are such a drag…" With those last mumbled words, Shikamaru appeared to fall asleep.

"Why didn't we think of that? Or our parents?" Mikano kicked her heavy-as-a-rock suitcase with a heel.

"Because we are all dumb, and Shikamaru is a lazy genius." Sasuke sighed.

"Speak for yourself," Mikano snorted. "I'll talk to my Dad before Christmas, and I'm sure he'll have figured something out before we go back after New Year."

"Right, Ms my-Dad-is-the-best."

Mikano stuck his tongue out at him.

The rest of the train ride was absolutely eventless. Mikano and Sasuke talked animatedly about the subjects they would be starting tomorrow, and Victoire eventually procured a deck of exploding snap from a knapsack. Shikamaru peacefully slept through all of the explosions, and only awoke when Mikano told him to get out on the corridor so Mikano and Victoire could change into their uniforms.

Victoire crinkled her petite nose. "These Hogwarts robes are so shapeless."

Mikano was not a fan either but for different reasons. "And we are supposed to make _potions_ in these? Look at those sleeves! There'll be a hundred accidents before we add the first ingredient."

Grumbling, they put on their Hogwarts uniforms. The summer uniform consisted of a tight, black shirt made out of a soft material, a dark grey, sleeveless jumper embroidered with the Hogwarts logo over the heart, loose black trousers, a pointy hat with brim, and a thin, black robe with long, wide sleeves; in winter, the thin robe would simply be exchanged for a thicker one.

After approximately eight hours of sitting down, Mikano was delighted at the prospect of finally exiting the great red train as it rumbled to a halt at Hogsmeade Station. As per instructions by the voice which had rung out in all carriages a few minutes before arrival, they left their luggage and owls in their compartments. Sasuke's cat, Dash, hadn't stirred.

Moving slowly forward with the tide of students heading for the nearest exit, it took a while to finally reach it. Through the compartment windows, she saw more and more students spill out on the station. Then, finally, it was her turn.

She took a deep breath and stepped out into the September evening.


	3. A singing rag to tell you how thoroughly uninteresting you are

The first thing Mikano noticed now that she was out of the train was her brother. She had always had a keen ability to pick him out in a crowd but this time multiple things made it easy. Firstly, her brother, Kiba and Choji were all sitting on the ground as back to back as possible when you are three, tied together with rope. Secondly, a man about twice as tall as men were supposed to be was standing right beside them rubbing the back of his bushy head. Thirdly, another man, this one normal-sized, with a cap and blue uniform-looking cloak on, was gesturing wildly and, judging from the furious working of his jaw, yelling.

Naruto’s expression was recalcitrant, Choji looked sated, and Kiba was sitting with his jacket’s hood up facing away from where Mikano was standing. They were all still wearing the clothes they had worn on Platform 9¾.

“What in the name of the First have those dunderheads been doing?” hissed Mikano.

“Look at how happy Choji looks and how Naruto’s jumpsuit is stretched across his belly.” It was Shikamaru who had come out of the carriage behind her. “My best guess? They raided the snack carriage.”

Mikano groaned. “Mum is going to skin him alive. We haven’t even _seen_ Hogwarts yet and he’s already in trouble.” She began making her way towards the spectacle. _At least this explains why Shikamaru couldn’t find his friends anywhere_ , she thought to herself. _And why the tea trolley never passed us_. She only now realized the incongruity between what her family had told them about the Hogwarts Express ride and her own experience. Inattention was bad shinobi practice, uncle Kakashi, her dad’s former student and a frequent guest at her home, had told her. Might get you killed. Or worse, get your _teammates_ killed. Kakashi could be so sombre sometimes.

She reached Naruto in time to hear the man, presumably the train driver, yell: “I’ll charge you! Your parents are going to pay for this!” as he stomped back to the locomotive.

Mikano winced. Nope, her mother would definitely _not_ be happy.

“Well, those are magic ropes, so yeh hafta stay like that, at least fer now.” The giant spoke in a weird accent Mikano was not familiar with. He scratched his mighty, tousled beard then picked all three boys up by the rope with one enormous hand.

“Firs’-years! Firs’-year! Over here!”

Naruto spluttered like an old teakettle. “Put us down! Take off the ropes!”

Kiba growled very dog-like and the puppy on his head barked shrilly as it clung to the fur-lined hood of Kiba’s jacket.

“Sorry, I don’ do magic yeh see.” The overproportioned man sounded apologetic. “’S’that ev’rybody? Firs’-years, follow me!” he bellowed and began walking.

Mikano briefly considered doing something to help her brother but dismissed the thought almost immediately. He could do with a lesson. She noticed Sasuke beside her.

“Coming? Or would you rather stay here in Hogsmeade? I’d visit you on the weekends.” He smirked at her.

She batted him on the arm. “Smartarse.”

Seeing Hogwarts grow out of the mist laying like a fine veil over the surface of the Black Lake made Mikano suck in a breath.

“Damn,” whispered Sasuke beside her.

Hogwarts was grand. Thousands of windows lit up against the overcast sky as the building towered taller and taller in front of them. Towers and turrets were abundant giving the symmetry of the castle a haphazard, sky-reaching feel. It was beautiful in an ancient, powerful way. It looked unassailable, indestructible, though Mikano knew it had needed some severe renovation after the Battle of Hogwarts good twelve years ago.

The small boats bumped up to a narrow landing stage at the foot of the castle. Mikano got out first and offered a hand to Sasuke with a sarcastic bow. He rolled his eyes and ignored the hand. Mikano, grinning, turned to the third passenger of their boat, a pretty, chubby girl with dimples and strawberry blond curls. She took the offered hand with a grateful smile. The boat wobbled dangerously as she exited it.

The giant knocked on the great oak doors leading into Hogwarts so hard you could hear the raps echo in the room on the other side. The doors swung outwards so the enormous man had to leap backwards. Naruto, Kiba and Choji yelled indignantly as they swung wildly from the giant’s fist.

“There you are, Hagrid,” said the tiny man who had appeared in the doorway. His robes were brilliantly green and his shock of white hair was hidden under a tall wizarding hat. Without the hat, Mikano estimated he would barely reach her chin.

“’Evenin’ Professor,” said the giant, Hagrid.

“Hagrid, are those students?” the professor’s high voice squeaked. He pointed at the three boys dangling from Hagrid’s meaty hand.

“Sure. Ate up all the food in the Express. The driver was mighty angry, I tell yeh. Spelled these ropes, I can’ take ‘em off.”

The professor flicked his wand and the bonds binding Naruto and the others vanished. They tumbled to the ground, Naruto swearing loudly and Kiba’s puppy yapping.

“No such words at Hogwarts,” warned the tiny wizard with a lifted finger. “Now, it’s high time you come inside. All the other students have arrived.” He beckoned them closer and shuffled away, obviously intending for them to follow.

The hall inside was huge. The first thing you noticed was four tall, empty hourglasses which Mikano could not guess the function of. Opposite the entrance, a wide marble staircase led to an upper floor while a pair of great double doors were shut to their right. They could hear noises coming from behind it, and Mikano thought that must be where the other students were waiting.

The professor, Deputy Headmaster Flitwick as he introduced himself, led them to a small chamber where they were left alone for a moment. Mikano took advantage of the absence of an adult to make her way over to where Naruto was standing.

“Naruto, you idiot,” she hissed at him. “Honestly, you’re not even trying to behave, are you?” She pierced him with her grey eyes and he squirmed. She sighed. “Mum and Dad will be so disappointed. And _mad_.” A grin broke through her mask of seriousness even though she tried to stop it. “Are you kidding me? A bill on the first day? I can’t wait to see what Mum will do to you next time we see her.”

Naruto blanched. “It was just for fun. Like a treasure hunt!” He pushed out his chin. “We were actually really impressive and everything, searching the train like real shinobi! Choji even did a real spell thing because the door was locked.”

Mikano gave Choji a surprised look. He shrugged.

“My aunt locks the food away when I visit,” he said indifferently as if that explained how he had figured out how to use a charm not even on the first-year curriculum all by himself.

Mikano turned back to Naruto, noticing Sasuke and Shikamaru beside her and a number of the other student watching their conversation interestedly. She leaned in a little and lowered her voice.

“Anyway, can we just pretend not to be family? I don’t want your dirty reputation to rub off on me.” She crinkled her nose.

Naruto put a hand over his heart, feigning hurt. “Sis, you got it all wrong! I’m doing this to make you look good, don’t you see?” His arm shot out and caught Mikano’s neck in the crook of his elbow, making her stumbled forward. “It’s contrast! When one twin is badder, the other one becomes _better_. The teachers will love you for _not_ being like me.”

Mikano poked him the stomach and he let go with a yelp.

“Right,” she snorted, pushing him away.

“Miki, don’t do that, I’m really really full,” he moaned, rubbing his bulging belly.

“I hope you get a stomach ache,” she told him savagely.

“Done,” he said miserably.

“Dope,” said Sasuke and poked Naruto with two fingers on the forehead.

Naruto was about to retaliate when Professor Flitwick re-entered.

“Now, behind this door is the Great Hall where we will begin the start-of-term feast in a jiffy. Before we get to that though, each and every one of you will be sorted into one of Hogwarts’ four houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin. No house is better than the others but all are a little different.” He looked up at them, pulling the brim of his green hat.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Through this door first-years, your sorting awaits!”

The Great Hall was certainly great. It was immense. Its most striking feature was the ceiling which mirrored the overcast sky outside while thousands of candles floated above their heads. Mikano wondered if they dripped.

Four long parallel tables occupied most of the hall with a single perpendicular table on a raised platform at the back. From Mido, she knew there was a table for each house and based on the coloured trims and emblems on the students’ uniforms, it was easy to guess which table was which.

Red for Gryffindor, yellow for Hufflepuff, blue for Ravenclaw, and green for Slytherin.

Professor Flitwick ushered them through the room towards the end opposite the teachers’ table.

On a three-legged stool sat a ragged, brown Wizarding hat.

Professor Flitwick steered the children behind the stool so they stood facing the tables. Quiet filled the room. Mikano shifted her weight from one leg to their other, full of nervous excitement.

Suddenly, the hat began moving and a voice sounded. It sang:

_I am the Sorting Hat_

_A weathered old cap_

_Put me on your head_

_No reason more to fret_

_I’ll tell you where in Hogwarts_

_You’ll find your way and prosper_

_A millennium has gone_

_Since the first time I was worn_

_And now you may just wonder_

_What happened then so yonder?_

_Two wizards and two witches_

_Shared dreams and also wishes_

_For magical kind_

_And that’s why you’ll find_

_Yourself at Hogwarts tonight!_

_But discussion ensued_

_‘Cause who should they take?_

_They could not agree_

_So here’s what they made_

_Four founders inspired_

_Four houses required_

_Gryffindor thought he always knew best_

_‘The brave, I’ll take!’ he told the rest_

_But Ravenclaw she shook her head:_

_‘Nay, cleverness pass’ every test.’_

_While Hufflepuff, she raised her voice:_

_‘The kindest wizards, those who toil!’_

_And Slytherin who’d quiet sat_

_Now turned his chair and so he said:_

_‘All is well with those traits mentioned_

_But without power, all is wasted.’_

_He picked off of his best friend’s head_

_A new and shiny Wizard’s hat_

_He tapped it once, he tapped it twice_

_He tapped it thrice, he gave it life_

_Now time has passed_

_And much has changed_

_Some have come and some have waned_

_Magic drifts towards the cosmos_

_But still stands our good old Hogwarts!_

Ear-splitting applause broke out among the tables. People hooted and whistled until Professor Flitwick stepped forward and held up his hand. He turned towards the first-years and said:

“It’s all very easy: When I call your name, you’ll step up to the stool, put on the hat, and off you go.”

Mikano chewed on the inside of her cheek thinking of the Sorting Hat’s song. She already knew about the four houses from her family and had a pretty good idea about where she would end up. She liked to think she knew herself well. The reiteration of the founders’ bickering had been amusing but she was not sure how true it was. According to the hat itself, it had only gained sentience _after_ the argument after all. Her thoughts were disturbed by Professor Flitwick reading out the first name from a list he held up close to his eyes:

“Aagard, Cherry.”

The chubby girl from her and Sasuke’s boat started and hurried towards the stool. She sat down and swapped her school hat for the moth-eaten Sorting one. The Sorting Hat was quiet for a while then called out:

“SLYTHERIN!”

A smile pulled at the corner of Mikano’s mouth as she clapped along with the rest of the Great Hall. She had not seen that one coming. Perhaps she was too quick to judge. The girl, Cherry, had seemed so innocent and heart-on-her-sleeve in the boat, definitely Hufflepuff or perhaps Gryffindor material. Slytherin would have been her last guess.

“Aburame, Shino.”

A shinobi name. She recognised the boy from the academy where he would always wear small, dark glasses and a coat with a collar so high his face would basically be hidden. The Aburame clan was one of the minor clans in Konoha but respected for their unique bug-related magic. Not exactly the choice of animal Mikano would have made, but if her father’s stories about the Aburame were true, their magic-eating insects were not to be messed with.

Shino, still wearing his glasses but with the coat necessarily exchanged for Hogwarts robes, went to Hufflepuff and so did Choji who was sorted after him. Then came a string of civilians who Mikano did not bother taking notice of. They were perhaps forty first-years, there was no way she would remember them all anyway.

She felt giddy. After the first three names, she had realized they were being called upon alphabetically by their last name and Uzumaki would likely be towards the end. Her sorting would have been over quicker if she had been given her father’s last name, Namikaze, but it was shinobi custom to name the children after the bigger clan.

While the Uzumaki basically had had a whole island to themselves, before they were wiped out, Namikaze was a name few would recognise if not for her father. Also, her mother had been a little sentimental about her clan name after she became one of its only survivors.

So Mikano had ample time to try and distract herself from the sorting ceremony until it was her turn. She only paid attention when her classmates from the Academy put on the hat. By now Sakura Haruno, the pink-haired horror and her twin’s pathetic crush, had gone to Ravenclaw, Hinata Hyuga, the Hyuga heiress, to Hufflepuff (a good place for such a meek person, Mikano thought), a nice, orphaned boy named Torigetsu Hozuki who Mikano knew very little about, to Gryffindor, where also Kiba Inuzuka, Naruto’s insufferable, dog-loving playmate, went.

She looked up at the teachers’ table. The teachers were arranged in such a way that they all faced the four house tables which made it easy to discern their faces. The elderly witch with the severe face in the middle ought to be Headmistress McGonagall. Mido had said she was strict but fair, a good headmistress for a school full of mischievous, magical youth. The seat to her right was empty. Likely Professor Flitwick’s. She also noticed Hagrid, who was hard to miss, and Professor Longbottom, her Aunt Esther’s something something cousin. Aunt Esther did not speak to him much anymore but had apparently babysat him a couple of times when they were younger. Mikano had promised to give the Herbology teacher her aunt’s regard.

Beside Professor Longbottom sat another person Mikano recognised. It would have been strange if she did not as he had been a stable throughout her childhood. She would have to take care not to call him Uncle Obito in class.

She swept her eyes over the rest of the teachers. She recognised a couple from Konoha. Guy Maito, who appeared to be crying, and the legend Orochimaru. His appearance was strikingly shinobi with the kind of traits Victoire Weasley would probably have ascribed to “dark” magic. His skin was milky white and his eyes yellow with slit pupils and purple markings around them. He decidedly did not look like an ordinary person but contrary to the very persistent myth about unholy magic, those kinds of traits were almost exclusively hereditary. Of course, the snake-mutant Voldemort from the Civil Wizarding War a decade ago had not helped to debunk the “dark magic” myth in the slightest.

“Uchiha, Sasuke.”

With a start, Mikano realized she had missed Shikamaru’s sorting. That was a shame. She would have liked to see what the hat would make of him.

Shikamaru was a special case. As intelligent as any but too lazy to care. The only thing he ever seemed to put his considerable brainpower towards was how to get out of doing work. To the extent of Mikano’s knowledge, his only hobby was sleeping.

Mikano gave Sasuke a Naruto-style smile and two subtle thumbs up. He lifted an eyebrow at her and went to the stool. The hat had barely touched his black hair before it cried:

“SLYTHERIN!”

Sasuke put the Sorting Hat back on its stool with a discreet smirk before strutting towards the Slytherin table to the polite applause of the Great Hall. He sat down beside Shikamaru who apparently had also made it into the Hogwarts house with the worst reputation - at least among civilians. Mikano noticed Obito whistling with two fingers in his mouth. Uchiha.

“Uzumaki, Mikano.”

With her heart beating somewhere near the top of her throat, Mikano walked up to the stool, taking great care not to stumble or look as nervous as she felt. She pulled the uniform hat off her head - urg hats, how she despised Wizarding fashion! - and exchanged it for the rag of a Sorting Hat. True, it was more than a thousand years old, she supposed she could cut it some slack in the beauty department.

“Thank you,” a dry voice said in Mikano’s ear. She realized the Sorting Hat was speaking to her.

 _Erhm, no offense_ , she thought at it.

“None taken,” it answered back. She could feel it rummage through her head. A strange and not entirely pleasant experience.

“Hmm, brave enough, brave enough, not the type to back down in the face of opposition. You have a bright mind, very bright, Ravenclaw could help slake your thirst for knowledge. Clever, yes, and smart. No real ambitions yet, no worries, few have at your age, but woe those who stand in your way when you one day acquire one. Loyal to your family, to your friends, to your village, typical shinobi. Yes, yes, all that is very well but I know which traits you value the most. I suppose there will be no place for you like…”

“SLYTHERIN!” it cried out.

Resigned, Mikano put her own hat back on. With her chin high, she made her way down to the Slytherin table which was clapping enthusiastically. The other tables were less excited, with one exception: Umiyo who was whooping and clapping from her seat at the Gryffindor table.

Mikano smiled at her cousin. She appreciated the support though her and Naruto’s loudness could be kind of embarrassing in public. She reached the Slytherin table and slid in next to Sasuke. She glanced at the other first-year students at the table and recognised only one civilian besides Cherry: the dark-haired girl from Fortescue’s. She still had not gotten her name.

“Uzumaki, Naruto.”

Unsurprisingly, her twin was sorted into Gryffindor. Before he sat down at his new house’s table, he caught Mikano’s eyes and gave her a vigorous thumbs up. She nodded back at him. They were fine though they had ended up in different houses. It was only to be expected.

She would have understood friendly rivalry between Hogwarts’ four houses - after all, the point system Mido had explained directly encouraged it - but not the rumoured enmity between Slytherin and Gryffindor. It was ridiculous, childish really. Trust civilians to create conflict if they can’t find any already there. Luckily, Mido had said, shinobi children were too smart for that. Being sorted into some Hogwarts house or another would never change a shinobi’s allegiance; that would forever lie first and foremost with Konoha.

So it didn’t matter that she and Naruto had ended up on each side of an artificial divide. Except for the added inconvenience it would create for her in trying to keep her brother in line. She definitely could not trust Umiyo to do that, vows to Kushina or not.

After Naruto had been sorted, not a lot of people were left. Victoire Weasley went to Gryffindor, a civilian named Eren Wilkes joined Mikano at the Slytherin table, and the Sasuke groupie number 2, Ino Yamanaka, was sorted into Ravenclaw.

When Ino had taken her seat, shooting daggers with her eyes at the pink-haired horror seated across from her, Headmistress McGonagall stood up.

“Welcome and welcome back to Hogwarts. I hope you have all had enrichening holidays and are now fully prepared to buckle down for your education once again. But first, the Feast!”

She sat down as food appeared on the Hogwarts tables.

The feast was glorious and bountiful. The food was as good as any Mikano’s dad could cook up and reminded her of home. She was not in the mood to talk and spend most of the feast with her eyes cast down. She did not care if the others thought she was anti-social.

She was not the only one keeping quiet during the meal. The Fortescue girl looked so irritable no one dared approach her. Shikamaru was staring languidly at his plate while Sasuke listened politely to Cherry’s blabber about her home life and family, resting his chin on the back of his intertwined fingers, elbows on either side of his plate.

Listening with half an ear as was her habit, Mikano picked up that Cherry was a Half-Blood whose mother was a witch studying magical theory and her dad a university professor. That she was an only child. That she loved chocolate and her dad’s motorised boat. That her biggest dream was to invent powerful Neutral spells because it was so unfair Dark and Light had their own while Neutral had virtually none.

This made Mikano look up. She did not know a lot about magical theory but was, of course, aware of this, most basic, categorization of magic. A magical person’s magic could be Dark, Light, or Neutral, usually a mix. Almost nobody had pure Dark or Light blood anymore because of interbreeding between the two types or the introduction of Neutral magic. Neutral magic was the only type of magic which appeared in Muggleborns.

Mikano did not know what the differences between those three types of magic were, only that it did not matter most of the time as pretty much all standard spells were ‘indifferent’, meaning they did not care about blood. She had heard about a few Light spells. Her dad’s incredible, offensive _Rasengan_ was one, his wandless, kunai-dependent instant teleportation another.

According to Cherry, those with Neutral blood had almost no exclusive spells. Niche, but interesting.

Absentmindedly, Mikano chewed on her roast beef. She supposed an ambition like that would be the reason Cherry had landed herself in Slytherin though her sweet nature seemed in opposition to many of the things Mikano had heard about her new house. That they were a sly, manipulation, self-serving and dastardly bunch, just to mention some. Really, prejudice was a terrible thing.

Finally, after dessert, Headmistress McGonagall stood up again and the Great Hall fell silent.

“It is a great pleasure to once again see the Great Hall full. In just a moment, we shall all be off to our beds to get ready for school which starts tomorrow. First-years, you will follow your house’s prefects to your common room. Classes start at eight.

“Fortunately, we have no new teachers to introduce this year, why my last words tonight will be a brief reminder to you about Hogwarts’ rules: The Forbidden Forest is as always out of bounds for any student not accompanied by a teacher; no spells in the halls between classes; and finally, as Mr Filch has asked me to remind you once more, all product from Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes are banned from Hogwarts grounds.

“I bide you all a good night. Welcome to Hogwarts.”

She sat down as sporadic clapping was drowned by the sound of benches scraping against the floor.

“Slytherin first-years! Gather here!” A tall boy was waving a hand above his head. When all nine Slytherin first-years were gathered around him, he motioned for them to follow him. They went through a door in the Entrance Hall and down several flights of stairs. The air turned cooler and their steps echoed in the tunnel-like hallways. Mikano tried to memorize the way to the Entrance Hall but had to give up, annoyed, after the fifth time they took a turn.

While they walked, the tall boy, Eric Wilkes, a 5th-year prefect, he told them, chattered about Hogwarts and the day tomorrow.

“Breakfast starts at 7, classes at 8. If you can’t find your classroom ask an older student or one of the portraits, they are usually very helpful,” he gestured towards the bare dungeon walls, “though you obviously won’t be able to here. You’ll get your class schedules tomorrow before breakfast. You will share all your classes with the first-years from another house, though which one will differ from class to class. You call your teachers Professor and are generally expected to be the paragon of politeness and good behaviour as representatives of Slytherin.”

Eric halted and turned around so that the first-years all had to stop.

“Slytherin has a reputation. Don’t let that bother you. Don’t let the other houses pick on you either. We snakes stick together, we look out for each other. If somebody is giving you a hard time, don’t hesitate to come to me or one of the other prefects. We’ll help you sort it out.” He looked at them seriously, and perhaps it was Mikano’s imagination, but did his eyes not linger a little longer on the shinobi children? Then his gaunt face broke in a wolfish smile.

“Of course we expect you, in return, to uphold the Slytherin honour, stay out of trouble, and help win the House Cup. _Grimoire_.”

For a moment, Mikano was thoroughly confused but then an apparently blank stretch of wall turned into a passage: a tall, oval portal.

Eric smiled and bowed ironically with a sweeping motion towards the doorway in the wall. “Welcome to the Slytherin common room.”

On the other side of the thick stone wall, a large rectangular room was lit by lamps and the green light penetrating the great windows that covered a large part of the walls and ceiling. Contrary to the dungeon hall outside, the Slytherin common room was warm and dry, helped along by the crackling fire lit under a great, imposingly carved mantelpiece opposite the entrance.

Couches, tables and chairs were arranged in clusters around the room, many occupied by older Slytherins who were filling the room with chatter and laughter. Along the walls were placed dark cupboards and portraits of people Mikano did not recognise. The theme seemed to be green and snakes, from the serpentine carvings on the chairs to the lamps emitting a soft glow.

It was all very stylish and grand while being surprisingly cosy. Mikano realized the light from the windows was green, not because the glass was coloured, but because the evening sun first filtered through the great lake they had crossed to get to Hogwarts. The starfish on the glass tipped her off as did the school of rather large fish starting past it. It made sense, with the common room being underground and all.

“Needless to say,” Eric continued, “you are not allowed to bring students from other houses to our common room or to give out the password which, for the moment, is _Grimoire_.” He pointed to a notice board next to the entrance which from this side looked like clouded glass. “The password will change every two weeks and the new one will be posted here along with any other important message. You will need the password to get both in and out of this room. _Grimoire_.” The clouded glass vanished, leaving the passage free again. “See?”

The first-years nodded obediently. Eric smiled, showing his slightly crooked teeth. “Right, you must be tired. Your luggage should have arrived already. You can find your owls in the Owlery, by the way.”

He pointed to the wall farthest away from where the fire roared, “To the left, we have the boys’ rooms, to the right the girls’.” He pointed to the other side of the fireplace. “You’ll find you dormitories down the halls behind those doors. Girls can’t enter the boys’ quarters and vice versa. Oh, and one last thing! Our Head of House is Professor Orochimaru, the tall, pale, guy with the yellow, snakey eyes.” Nervous chuckles sounded as if the first-years weren’t sure they were allowed to laugh. “He might look a little intimidating, but he’s actually really nice and helpful. If you have to talk to an adult, and not just a prefect, you can always turn to him.”

The corner of Eric’s mouth twitched up. He waved his fingers at the first-years as if he was an old grandma. “Now, go have fun!”

Recognising a dismissal when she saw one, Mikano turned to Sasuke.

“I don’t know about you but I’m off to bed. I would like to unpack before tomorrow.”

Sasuke pursed his lips. “I better check if Dash is here somewhere.”

It took a moment before Mikano realized who Sasuke was talking about. The cat.

“I bet he’s sleeping on your bed,” she told him with a little smile.

“Likely. I would have suspected a sleeping hex if Grandma Nekobaa had not assured me it was simply _personality_.” His nose crinkled almost imperceptibly.

“Now, don’t underestimate the power of sleep,” yawned Shikamaru. He pulled off his hat. “I think I’m going to cut my hair. It doesn’t fit in here.” He glared morosely at the clothing article in his hand. “What a drag.”

“Wizarding fashion,” Mikano huffed.

“If you don’t like it here, sod off to Konoha.” The voice was challenging, unfriendly. Mikano turned around. It was the Fortescue girl. Her dark curls were framing a face with heavy-lidded dark eyes, plum lips, and an openly hostile expression. Mikano raised her eyebrows, miffed at the animosity.

“I was just commenting on the ridiculousness of certain parts of the uniform. Like these hats for example, or these robes.” She held out an arm so her sleeve fluttered.

“Wizarding robes and hats are a proud part of Wizarding history. _And_ of Hogwarts uniforms. Don’t expect century-old traditions to be overturned just because they offend your delicate sense of _fashion_.”

“I wasn’t indicating they should!” Mikano was now thoroughly annoyed. Who was this angry girl who thought she had a right to join strangers’ conversations with spiteful comments?

“Then you should hold your tongue,” the dark-eyed girl said. _What_ was her deal?

“Who are you even?” Mikano bristled.

“That’s no concern of yours!” the girl replied angrily and stomped off towards the girls’ door to the right of the fireplace.

Sasuke glared at her back.

“What was that about?” he asked no one in particular.

“That was Delphini Lestrange,” a voice behind them chirped. They turned and Cherry bit her lip. “She’s the, you know, daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and… and You-Know-Who. Lives with a relative. I’ve heard she’s dangerous, that she is a lot like… like the Dark Lord.” Cherry’s voice was barely a whisper by the end. “I think it’s better to just stay away from her…”

“Either way, she’s not very nice,” declared a scrawny boy peering over Cherry’s shoulder. It was Eren Wilkes, the civilian who had been sorted into Slytherin after Mikano.

“No,” Mikano agreed thoughtfully staring at door shutting behind Lestrange, “she’s not.”


	4. Initiating the Inept: Magical Theory and Manipulation

Mikano was woken up at 6:30 by her blue alarm clock buzzing like an angry insect. She turned it off by whispering, "I'm up," and blinked a couple of times to shake the hazes of sleep from her mind. She felt well-rested. The four-poster with the pretty emerald hangings had been a nice surprise yesterday in the room she shared with the other four female Slytherin first-years.

The first thing she noticed when she sat up was the roll of parchment lying on top of the chest at the foot of her bed. Remembering the prefect Eric's promise of schedules before breakfast, Mikano excitedly climbed across her blankets to retrieve the scroll. As expected, it was a schedule. Mikano skimmed it, feeling anticipation bubble in her stomach like the fizzy sweets Naruto had once tricked her into eating.

Magical Theory and Manipulation; Defence; Physical Education; Broomstick riding; Potions, Poisons and Herbology; Societal Studies; Charms, Spells and Transfiguration. Fifteen minutes to get from one class to the other. Three blocks before lunch, two after. School from 8:00 to 15:30. Because today was Thursday, first class was a double Magical Theory and Manipulation. She could barely wait.

She took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. Wrapped in a towel embroidered with a silvery S, she dug into the closet where she had put her clothes and hung her plain school robes the day before. To her great surprise, they had acquired green and silver trimmings during the night in addition to a Slytherin crest sewn onto the front. She bit the inside of her cheek for a moment then stored her questions for later. She slipped into the uniform and reluctantly put on the hat.

The other girls were stirring, the bed furthest towards the wall already empty, when Mikano left for the common room, schoolbag slung over her shoulder. There she saw Sasuke reclining in one of the couches, studying a class schedule identical to the one she had gotten.

"Itachi says Societal Studies is the most interesting subject," Sasuke said without a greeting, "though not the most useful. He thinks that's Magical Theory. Did you know the Sannin is teaching it?" He was referring to Orochimaru who along with his teammates Tsunade and Jiraiya had gotten the moniker 'the Three Legendary Sannin' during the Third Shinobi War in the early 70s. Soon after the end of the war, Tsunade had quit shinobi life and become Chief Healer at the civilian St Mungo's Hospital while Orochimaru eventually settled down as a teacher. Jiraiya, who Mikano had met a few times growing up as he was her father's old team captain, travelled the world, seemingly at random, writing dirty novels. All in all, many were surprised and disappointed by the way three of the most revered shinobi in the world had turned out.

Mikano nodded. "I know, and it's our first class too." She could not suppress a grin. "Breakfast?" She gestured towards the clouded portal.

Sasuke frowned as he got up. "We'll need an older student to show us the way."

"Yeah, but people are leaving all the time. We'll just tack along, dimwit."

Sasuke huffed. "Okay, fair point. Then come, somebody's leaving now!"

Sasuke grabbed his own schoolbag and they hurried after the figure slipping out through the opening.

" _Grimoire_ ," said Mikano. Their unknowing guide turned a corner.

Slightly panting, they finally reached the Entrance Hall.

"They should mark up the dungeons," gasped Mikano, "it's a labyrinth down there!"

Sasuke smirked at her. "Of course they shouldn't. Then the location of our common room wouldn't be secret anymore." He had already caught his breath. "And you should exercise more, how are you so out of breath? Are you a shinobi or not?"

Mikano took a swing at him but he dodged, laughing.

"I'll give you out of breath," she grumbled. She was going to go to the library later to find a nice little hex to test on her friend. "Is Shika still sleeping, by the way?" she asked as they entered the Great Hall.

"Of course. He'll probably miss our first class." A little smile pulled at the corners of Sasuke's mouth.

"I wouldn't dare! Not with the Sannin!" Mikano shivered. Shinobi children grew up with tales of the greatest Konoha warriors through time, and the three Sannin featured in more than a few.

Her eyes were drawn to the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey Sasuke, remind me to ask Itachi about our robes later. He would know, wouldn't he?"

He looked at her without understanding. She waved a green-trimmed sleeve in front of his nose, exasperatedly.

"The _trimmings_."

Sasuke batted her arm away. "I get it. Nice excuse."

"Will you shut your trap?" she asked curtly. Then, looking at the Gryffindor table: "I'll eat with Naruto. If you get lonely, you can sit with your fan club at the Ravenclaw table." With those words, she veered to the right before Sasuke could growl a retort.

"'Sub sis," said Naruto, mouth full of scrambled eggs, when Mikano sat down across from him. Almost every Gryffindor in her vicinity sent her disturbed glances. A Slytherin at the Gryffindor table! The horror!

"Morning," she replied, eyeing the food on the table. As she grabbed a plate and began stocking eggs and bacon on it, somebody choked on their juice.

"But she's a _Slytherin_!" a voice shrieked.

Ignoring the disturbances she caused at the table, Mikano complacently dug in. The breakfast was as delicious as the food had been yesterday. She just wished Kiba would not let his little dog eat from his place. That was just _nasty_.

"So how's Gryffindor?" she asked her brother.

Naruto swallowed his sausage. "Wicked! We have these huge beds and the common room is in a tower so high up you can see a lot of the grounds below…"

Somebody moved up behind Naruto and whacked him on the top of his hatless head with the edge of a hand. Naruto cried out and flailed his arms, turning over a pitcher which spilt an orange juice all over the table.

"Hush, Naruto!" said Umiyo, her bob-cut in disarray under the hat. "You're not supposed to tell her that. I told you, the location of our common room is a _secret_." She looked at Mikano accusingly and wrinkled her freckled nose. "I'm sure _you_ would never tell about your common room, would you?"

Mikano sent her cousin her best innocent smile and popped a grape into her mouth. Around it she said, "Good morning to you too, dear cousin."

"Yeep, wet!" Naruto yelped, jumping backwards. Except, he was sitting on a bench which made jumping exceedingly difficult. Umiyo yelled as Naruto tumbled off the bench, gripping her legs in an attempt to save himself. With a thump, they both ended up on the floor, juice dripping from the edge of the table.

"Why in the name of the First, _must_ it be my family making such a ruckus on the first day of school?" sounded Mido's tired voice as she appeared next to Mikano. " _Scourgify_ ," she said, pointing her wand at the juice on the table. It vanished.

"'Morning Mido."

"'Morning Miki." Mido eyed her cousin. "You know; everybody thinks Naruto is the trouble maker between the two of you but I think you are even worse than he is. Could you please take your chaos someplace else next time?" She grimaced. "Preferably your own table."

"Mido!" Mikano gasped, "I haven't the foggiest what you mean!"

"Save the playact for someone who believes it," Mido snorted. Mikano grinned.

"Aw, Mido, you know me, I'm as honest as you get them!"

"Right." Mido did not sound convinced.

Suddenly, Mikano remembered her question from earlier. "I actually wanted to ask you something," she told Mido.

"Ask away," said Mido, eyeing Naruto who was getting up on the other side of the table with an exasperated expression on her face.

"Well, this morning when I woke up, my robes had these green edges they didn't have before, and I wondered how they'd gotten there. Do you know?"

Mido fiddled with a spoon she had picked up from the table and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "It might have been the house-elves. Hogwarts has hundreds of them in the kitchen. They make the food and keep the castle clean. They could have fixed the robes too."

"Really? Hundreds of house-elves?" Mikano was impressed. House-elves were rare and owning just one was a sign of significant wealth.

"Yeah, why not?" said Mido as she put down the spoon. "Hogwarts is old. The house-elves living here now are probably descendants of the ones who were around back in the founders' time." She turned to leave. "Well, I'll be off. You have fifteen minutes till your first lesson starts. Try not to bring down the castle in the meantime."

Mikano nodded and got up. She glanced at Naruto who was entertaining himself by dangling a sausage in front of Kiba's dog's snout, keeping it just out of the puppy's reach.

"Did you hear?" she asked him. "Fifteen minutes to our first class. Do you have your bag?"

Naruto's head jerked towards her. "Dammit, your right! Kiba, come, we-AUCH!"

With Naruto distracted, the dog had chanced its luck and lunged forward. It got hold of the sausage - and a number of Naruto's fingers.

Mikano headed for the Slytherin table, shaking her head. She could not mother Naruto all his life. The naphat would have to learn things the hard way.

Behind her, Naruto's shouts mixed with the dog's muffled barks and Kiba's loud guffaws:

"Attaboy, Akamaru!"

As Sasuke had divined, Shikamaru did not show up for Magical Theory and Manipulation. The Slytherins shared the class with the Hufflepuffs and while the rest of the class was settling down, Mikano eyed the shinobi children. Choji was munching on a roll probably taken from the breakfast table while Shino, the bug-guy, was rolling a quill between his fingers, eyes hidden behind dark glass. Mikano felt a pang of pleasure when she noticed Hinata chatting softly with another Hufflepuff, a girl with chocolate brown skin and tight dark curls under the hat, who motioned with her hands animatedly when she spoke.

Mikano did not know why but she had always had a soft spot for the Hyuga heiress. There was something about her careful kindness, her delicate vulnerability that made Mikano want to protect her and make her smile. And of course her shy crush on Naruto was kind of adorable, especially when her obnoxious twin was so perfectly obvious to Hinata's affection, fawning over the pink-haired horror instead.

Cherry plopped into the seat next to Sasuke and leaned forward so she could catch Mikano's eyes on the other side of the boy.

"Why did you leave without me?" she asked her, pouting.

"Sorry," Mikano answered, startled. "I didn't know you wanted me to wait for you?" It came out more like a question than a statement.

"Of course I do! We are friends, right?" Cherry, now grinning widely, dug down behind the table to retrieve a book from her schoolbag. _Magical Theory: An Introduction_ by Badger Djoffer. "Friends wait for each other."

"Morning," a soft, awkward voice asked, "is it alright if I sit here?"

"Sure," Mikano replied automatically as she turned around to see who she was talking to.

It was the scrawny boy from yesterday, Eren. He smiled shyly as he let himself slide into the seat to Mikano's left. Something she had been wondering about, suddenly popped into mind again at the sight of the mousy boy.

"Hey, you and Eric, the prefect, are the two of you family by any chance?" On top of the shared last name, Wilkes, the two boys somewhat resembled each other. Something with the pointy chin and straggly brown hair.

"He's my big brother." Eren's blue eyes lit up. "Mum and Dad were so proud when he got the badge this summer. The prefect badge, I mean."

"I can imagine," Mikano said easily. "What do your parents do?" She figured she might as well get to know her classmate. However, before Eren had a chance to answer, a large rectangular piece of the wall next to the blackboard melted away and the classroom chatter instantly died out.

Through the opening stepped a tall figure dressed in dark robes. His long, black hair fell straight down his back with a few stray locks falling into his sharp-boned face, highlighting the milky white skin and bright, yellow eyes. Somebody shrieked. Mikano would have chuckled at that, had she not been so consumed with reverence. Her Head of House had an aura to match his impressive reputation, despite his benevolent smile. She could not believe her luck in having such a legend for a teacher.

"Good morning," he said. "I am Professor Orochimaru and I will be teaching you Magical Theory and Manipulation for the next five years." Something twinkled in his eyes as he surveyed the class.

"Before we move on to subject matters, there seems to be something we must address first." His eyes landed on the Hufflepuff girl who had squeaked at his appearance. She cowered before him until his wide mouth broke in a smile. "I am aware my visage may strike those of you not familiar with shinobi traits as quite unusual. No need for alarm; we are here to learn after all and surprise and curiosity go hand in hand."

He began walking slowly in front of the class, moving his hands smoothly to emphasize his speech.

"In this classroom, your prejudices and presumptions about the nature and character of magic will be challenged. We shall talk about blood and about power, about things most Wizards take for granted and few have ever pondered. We shall talk about what we know and what we don't know about magic, this mysterious power which some inherit and others are gifted with apparently at random."

He stopped, placing both long-fingered, pale hands on his desk and leaned forward.

"While this subject might seem dull and trivial to some of you, I assure you…" he paused, letting his eyes drift over his gawking students with slow deliberation, "that this, out of all your subjects at Hogwarts, will be the most important."

Mikano had a strange urge to clap and cheer when Orochimaru finished. Her fingertips tingled with excitement and her stomach felt cold. From having skimmed the subject textbooks during the last week of the summer holiday, she was inclined to agree with her professor. Magical theory could best be described as the foundation upon which all spell work rested. The difference between magic with or without the theory was like the difference between building a bridge with or without doing the math. You might appear to succeed on the surface but you would never know when the bridge would collapse or your spell comes crashing down.

Mikano was looking at Orochimaru with rapt attention as he straightened and turned to the blackboard. With a flourish of his wand, words scribbled themselves across the surface.

"During your five years of mandatory Magical Theory, we will touch upon many topics, from wandlore to the origin of magic. After Christmas, we will look into the mechanisms and nature of magic, and in your second year, we are going to discuss the issue of blood where you will all have the chance to do a simple test to identify the composition of the magic that you possess, to what extent it is Dark, Light, or Neutral. In your older years, you will, in this classroom, also be taught about wandless and non-verbal magic.

"But for now," he turned to his class smiling as the last period dotted itself on the blackboard, "we shall study the processing of magic inside the body and practice refining the flows. While you might not be aware of it, the cultivation of the untamed magic inside you, which sometimes manifests itself in the bouts of 'accidental magic' children are prone to, are absolutely essential to the art of performing spells."

Orochimaru waved a hand and a figure began drawing itself beside the text which Mikano had not yet had time to read.

"You might want to start taking notes now," Orochimaru informed the class. A rustle and scraping followed as nearly twenty children dug for their quills and parchment. As expectant quiet filled the room once again, Orochimaru continued.

"While casting spells with unrefined magic is possible, it is highly inefficient and will deplete your magical stores extremely quickly. The process of refining magic, 'moulding,' is not complicated but takes time to master. As moulded magic quickly returns to its natural unmoulded state inside you if not used immediately, you will eventually learn how to mould magic on the go in the moments before you cast your spell.

"Today, we are going to practice the initial step of moulding: directing the flow of unmoulded magic inside your body. Instructions for the exercise are written on the board," he motioned towards the text on the blackboard, "and here is a visual representation of what is going to happen," he pointed at the figure. "Begin."

Mikano studied the figure first. It was the outline of a doll-like person sitting cross-legged, hands clasped together and fingers intertwined in front of its chest. Arrows pointed from a large circle on its belly down each arm, meeting at the clasped hands. Wavy lines radiated from the doll's joined palms.

The drawing only made sense after Mikano read the instructions next to it. _Ah._ They were going to close their eyes and fold their hands like the doll then try to reach out for their magic. When they found it, they were supposed to direct it down their arms and into their palms. If they succeeded they would feel the magic as 'heat' and 'a tingling sensation' according to the text.

Mikano drew her legs up on the chair and crossed them. Her knees just fitted between Sasuke and Eren. She stole a glance at Sasuke who was sitting with both feet on the ground. He did the same thing with his hands as the doll but was frowning in a way that made him look angry rather than concentrated.

Mikano's lips quirked up as she closed her eyes. Her fingers intertwined and she pressed her palms together, bringing them up in front of her flat, cloak-clad chest. She exhaled. Inhaled. Exhaled.

This reminded her of the meditation her dad liked to do with the family. Sometimes, after a long day of work, Minato would sit down his wife and children in a circle on the living room floor. Then he would guide them through breathing exercises to calm the body and focus the mind. Mikano had come to enjoy the feeling of tranquillity and quiet which settled over her when she meditated. During these sessions, Naruto would fall asleep more often than not, his boyish snores blending with the evening buzz of Konoha outside their home's walls.

Minato said the ability to clear one's head was important for shinobi and Mikano believed him without question. Her dad knew everything worth knowing about anything. He was not the Hokage for nothing after all.

Returning her mind to the task at hand, Mikano slowly directed her attention towards her stomach region. She could feel it churning on her breakfast but knew it was not right. She had to go deeper, to another level so to speak. She would not find her magic sloshing around among fried egg.

She knew what she had to do but not how to. Was there a trick? She pursed her lips, eyes still closed. She could feel her magic. Faintly, elusively. Skirting around the edge of her consciousness.

"Professor?" Eren spoke up. Mikano heard light footsteps approach, then Orochimaru's deep, silky voice:

"What is the trouble, Mr…?"

"Eren Wilkes," Eren mumbled.

"What is the trouble, Mr Wilkes?"

"I can't find my magic, sir," Eren explained nervously. "It's just, it's not there, I don't know where to find it."

"Hmm." Orochimaru's voice felt like a caress. "Localizing your magic is challenging. Some do it intuitively, others must work hard for it. Close your eyes, yes, like that. Breathe, steadily, calmly. Make your mind quiet, search without words. Your magic is there, I promise you. Breathe. Steady, calm."

Without meaning to, Mikano followed her teacher's voice. She went inside herself, and the world became quiet, cool, and dark.

"Let your consciousness flow through your body. Let it stretch into the farthest recesses of your body. Let it fill you. Now, slowly, pull back. Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Focus on the centre of your body. Can you feel it; can you see it?"

Mikano _could_ see it. A shimmering in the darkness, blue embers blending into the shadows. She reached towards it with her mind and it felt familiar. It felt right.

She let it caress her with touches light as mist. Carefully, mindfully, she coaxed it from her belly towards her chest, through her arms. It was hard to steer and the sense she used to feel it was dull and stiff. It was like trying to open your eyes in a dream, your body fighting to make the movement in real life. If you tried too hard, you would wake up and the dream would be lost.

She lost touch with her magic again and again. It was frustrating, feeling it slip through her mind's grab yet another time. She never got it past her elbows before it suddenly recoiled, swirling playfully as if laughing at her efforts.

Still, she no longer had trouble locating the mist again after another failed attempt. It also began feeling less like mist and more... substantial, somehow. She got the feeling, she was not seeing her magic accurately. Or, more than _seeing_ , it was _perceiving_. It was a strange sensation, the notion of the magic inside her.

She had just reached for her magic once again when a sharp clap made her eyes snap open. She blinked multiple times to clear her vision, needing a moment to return to the world of sights, sounds, and smells.

Orochimaru was standing in front of them, his palms still connected after the clap.

"Good job, young students. I have observed impressive advancement in some of you already." His eyes did not dart to indicate who had earned this praise. "Now, you will have a break of fifteen minutes before the class resumes. I expect you to be back in your seats at 9:15."

Mikano got up, stretching her arms which were tired and stiff from holding the same, unnatural position for so long. She glanced at Sasuke.

"Any luck?"

His lips thinned. "Not much. You?"

She clenched her jaw. "No."

"I still can't find my magic at all," Eren mumbled quietly, casting a fugitive glance at their teacher who had sat down at his own desk, "but I don't dare tell him."

"He's kind of creepy, isn't he?" Cherry chipped in, using her hand as a screen by her cheek to prevent her words from reaching the object of their conversion.

Mikano bristled. "He's a legend. One of the strongest shinobi alive! We're lucky to have him here to teach lowly first-years. He could be earning a fortune on missions elsewhere."

"Woah." Cherry backed up, her hands stretched towards Mikano in a placating gesture. "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm not saying he's not great and all, just that he is a bit creepy, with the eyes and all…"

"Mikano, Professor Orochimaru does look a little strange, you can't deny that," Sasuke said in a low voice, looking imploringly at Mikano.

"I'm just so sick and tired of civilian prejudice. People shrieking left and right because your skin is a little pale or your teeth are a little pointy. Or you have a couple of lines on your face…" Almost unconsciously she reached up and touched her cheek. She continued angrily: "You would think we weren't human at all!" With those words, Mikano turned around and marched towards the door. Before she reached it, she heard Cherry whisper in a hurt tone:

"Why is she so prickly? I was just making conversation!"

Mikano scowled, feeling a headache coming on.

The last thing she saw before closing the door behind her was the Lestrange girl sneering at her mockingly from across the classroom.

Mikano shut the door with perhaps a little more force than necessary.

When Mikano returned to the classroom at the end of the break, she bee-lined for her seat without looking up at anybody. She could tell Cherry wanted to say something to her, but before she had the chance, Orochimaru stood up and told them to resume the exercise.

This time, finding the pool of magic inside her was much easier than the first time she tried. She tucked at its strands, willing it to follow her instructions. It refused.

She was growing annoyed and felt her magic slip further away from her. Her headache had persisted and thumped behind her eyes.

She drew a deep breath. This was counterproductive. Perhaps she was going about it wrong. She blinked her eyes open, taking a break from the strenuous work of trying to manipulate the magic inside her.

She noticed Orochimaru bent over Hinata's desk whispering to the girl who was looking down shyly. Orochimaru moved his hands in the air and Hinata's pale eyes followed them carefully. She nodded softly and Orochimaru drew himself up. Hinata closed her eyes, her fascinating, lilac, pupilless eyes, and rested her folded hands in her lap. Mikano looked up and noticed Orochimaru's gaze on her. He lifted an eyebrow as to ask if anything was wrong. Mikano shook her head minutely, a little startled. Nonetheless, the tall man approached her.

"Can I help you, Ms Uzumaki?"

 _He knows who I am_! Mikano thought a little frantically. Then she chided herself. It was not strange for a man so well-connected and knowledgeable to recognise the oldest daughter of the Hokage himself. And her Uzumaki red hair was a dead giveaway in any case. She realized she had not answered her professor and flushed.

"I can't get my magic to do what I want it to," she told him in the same low voice he had used, "I can't get it past my elbows." She thought it sounded a little silly when you said aloud like that and blushed deeper yet. Botheration!

"So you have found your magic already? Can you locate it reliably?"

"I think so," Mikano said hesitantly.

"That's good. That is very good. But I would not expect anything less from an Uzumaki."

"Sir?"

Orochimaru smiled. "The Uzumaki clan is a clan famous both for the size of their magic reserves and for notably sensitive magical senses. If you practice hard, you will likely be able to cultivate a great sensitivity to magic and magical signatures, a useful and valuable skill largely dependent on natural talent. Sadly, for those of us not gifted with it."

Mikano felt awestruck. What Orochimaru was telling her was… fantastic. A sensitivity to magic? She could easily imagine how that could be useful in the field.

"In short," Orochimaru continued, "it is not surprising you found your magic quickly. Directing its flow is another thing altogether, however."

Mikano nodded sullenly.

"When you find your magic inside you, try not to immerse yourself in it. Keep distance. Getting too close only muddles the image so to say. Do you understand?"

Mikano pursed her lips and nodded again. "I think so sir, thank you."

Orochimaru nodded and walked towards another table where a Slytherin boy apparently had fallen asleep, judging from the quiet snores.

Mikano closed her eyes and went back to work.

"For Wednesday, you will read the first chapter in _Magical Theory: An Introduction_ and practice today's exercise. I expect you to at least be able to locate your magic before next class. If you struggle I would recommend that you either seek the guidance of one of your more successful classmates, and older student, _or_ look at chapter 6 and 7 in _Minding the Mystery: Initiating the Inept_ by Wrillus Whackwood which you can find in the library."

"Sir, can you repeat that title?" Eren piped up miserably. He scribbled furiously as Orochimaru did as he was asked.

"See you Wednesday then. Class dismissed."

Mikano, having already shoved her inkpot, quill and notes back into her schoolbag, hurried out of the classroom as fast as dignity allowed.

"Hey Mikano, wait up!"

Mikano recognised the breathless voice behind her as Cherry's. She did not slow down.

"Mikano!" Cherry caught up with her and grabbed her sleeve. "I just wanted to say I forgive you for being rude and tetchy. Sasuke says you get snappy when you fail at something."

Mikano spun around. "He told you _what_?!"

Cherry's flushed, before her round face broke into a grin that showed off her straight, white teeth. "He said you get snappy when you fail at something. That you didn't mean it. And then he told a really funny story about a time where you-"

" _Sasuke_!" Mikano yelled accusingly at her friend who had just come around the corner, Eren in tow. Sasuke grinned at her and stuck out his tongue.

Mikano growled and drew both hands over her face.

"What are friends for if not to embarrass you?" Sasuke joked lightly as him and Eren reached Mikano and Cherry.

"I don't know…" Mikano pretended to think hard, "perhaps to _support_ you?"

Sasuke snorted. "Not when you're being an unreasonable arse."

Mikano huffed as the four of them began moving again. After a moment of silence, she opened her mouth then closed it again. She coughed.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," she finally mumbled staring stiffly at the stone floor.

Cherry poked her in the ribs, making Mikano jump to the side with a yelp. Cherry laughed.

"Don't do that!" Mikano hissed.

"I already told you I forgive you for being a prat," Cherry said cheerfully. She continued without missing a step: "Next class is PE, right?"

"No, it's Physical Education," Eren corrected.

Cherry sent him a confused glance. "Yeah, that's what I said. PE."

"Exactly, what do you _mean_ PE-" He broke off. "Oh, P. E. I get it."

"What, you never had PE in school?" Cherry sounded incredulous. "That's so unfair!"

Eren's eyes flicked towards her. "I was home-schooled."

Cherry clapped a hand over her forehead. "Oh right, my Mum _did_ say a lot of Wizard children do that! Especially in old families. I went to Muggle school because my Dad thought I should and because they are both so busy all the time, it would be no fun to just stay at home… Are your family like, traditional and stuff?"

"We're not rich or anything but, well, I suppose my family is sort of traditional." Eren sent Cherry a thin smile.

"Not to interrupt, but do we know where we are going?" Mikano said.

They all stopped.

"We should go down, right? It's probably outside." Sasuke pointed with his thumb through a window. They were on the second floor.

Mikano agreed. "Should we ask a portrait then? How to get to the Entrance Hall? I think we're running out of time. Her three classmates had distracted her and she had all but forgotten they had a class to attend in a few minutes.

"Excuse me?" Cherry addressed a portrait of a slumbering man with a massive moustache and a yellow wizarding hat. She knocked on the frame and the man woke with a grunt and a start.

"Huh, what do you want?" he asked, snuffling.

"Could you please tell us the way to the Entrance Hall from here?" Cherry asked politely. The man blinked, rubbed his eyes and told them.

"Beware of the trick step though," he called after them. "The second from the bottom!"

Mikano raised a hand to indicate they had heard him.


	5. Def. friends: the people who love you even when you're an arse

"That was horrible!" moaned Cherry as they, dirty and sweaty in their school robes, shuffled back to Hogwarts' main entrance after an hour of Physical 'Education'. More like _torture_.

Eren made a choked sound of agreement. Mikano said nothing while Sasuke's mouth curved smugly. Out of all the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins, he was the one who had performed the best in that hideous excuse of a _class_.

Their terror of a professor, the shinobi Guy Maito, had made them run laps around the Hogwarts greenhouses and do exercises on the grass to 'determine the state of their youthful bodies.' Mikano had known something terrible was about to happen the moment Guy Maito had shed his dark robes, exposing the nightmarishly tight, green latex jumpsuit and the orange, striped legwarmers underneath.

While they sprinted around, he had kept yelling at them that strong magic depended on a strong body and that they all possessed the 'Power of Youth' if only they dared embrace it. Mikano could not help but think he was crazy. Perhaps a wayward spell on the battlefield had botched his mental faculties for this was certainly not the bearing of a sane man.

She thanked the First they only had PE once a week, and only for 60 minutes.

"So, Mikano, ready for the morning runs?" Sasuke asked casually. She could _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

"Shut up, Uchiha."

"But Uzumaki, Professor Maito is going to be so disappointed. You certainly aren't embracing the 'Power of Youth'!"

"If you don't can your smartass comments right now, I'll dunk you in the lake."

Sasuke scoffed. "I'd like to see you try. I distinctly remember me being able to do at least ten times as many push-ups as _you_."

"Strength isn't everything," Mikano grumbled, not acknowledging he was probably right.

"Perhaps not, but it is _something_ ," Sasuke countered. Mikano was spared having to answer when Naruto appeared and slung an arm over Shikamaru's shoulder. Oh yeah, that had been fun. When Professor Maito had realized he was missing a student, he had disappeared in a cloud of dust. Before Mikano could properly comprehend just how fast the man could run, he was back, a bedraggled Shikamaru wearing only a mesh t-shirt and black shorts under his arm.

"Wow, that Professor Bushy-Brows really has a lot of energy!" Naruto exclaimed.

Mikano chuckled in spite of Sasuke's earlier jibes. Naruto's antics could always elevate her mood - when they did not make her want to strangle him, that was.

"Naruto, you're heavy," Shikamaru complained. Naruto jumped onto his back in response and Shikamaru promptly collapsed.

"Guys, not here, you're blocking the doorway," Mikano said exasperatedly. They had made it to the large doors leading into the Great Hall which strangely seemed to be empty of people.

"Huh, nobody's there…" Cherry looked confused.

"That is because you are early."

Mikano turned her head. It was Victoire standing behind them with her robe draped over her arm and hat in hand. That had been the only good thing about PE: They had had to remove the ridiculous hat. Victoire's workout flush looked becoming on her pretty features while Mikano was quite sure her own sweaty face made her looked like an over-cooked lobster.

"Hello Victoire," Sasuke said.

"Hi Sasuke." Blegh. "You have," she checked an elegant silver watch on her wrist, "25 minutes before lunch starts. I think we are supposed to shower." Her laughter sounded like bells.

"Right, thanks." Mikano turned on her heel and strode towards the door leading to the dungeons without waiting for her friends.

She could not _stand_ Sasuke's unofficial fan club. She was not _jealous_ or anything, they were just singular annoying, always batting their eyelashes, whining for his attention. It was simply terrible for his already bloated ego. Damn little prodigy. The only good thing about them was that Sasuke seemed to mind them even more than she did. Or well, _most_ of them.

She suddenly felt a hand find hers inside the robe sleeve. Her immediate reaction was to snatch her hand back but the other person held tight. She stared, startled, at Cherry who had caught up with her without Mikano realizing. Cherry smiled and squeezed Mikano's hand.

After a moment, Mikano returned the smile. Cherry's soft hand was warm.

It turned out Cherry had a decent sense of direction, and they found the Slytherin common room without too many wrong turns. The shower was amazingly soothing. Mikano rinsed the sweat out of her hair and felt her high bangs collapse as she slicked her hair back. With delight, she felt the water lick and flow down her back, her heavy, red locks dyed almost the dark beet red of her mother's because of the water. Mikano loved the way her soaked hair tickled her skin, and yet she usually only made it wet when she had to wash it; it took so long to dry afterwards.

She put on clean clothes and sat down in the common room to wait for Cherry. Even without a watch, Mikano could tell they were going to be late when Cherry finally emerged.

Unanimously, they decided against running despite their lateness.

As they finally reached the Great Hall, Mikano tripped. Only her hand instinctively grasping the fabric of Cherry's robe, prevented her from face-planting on the floor.

"Ups, _sorry_ ," sneered somebody passing her. Mikano looked up. Three tall backs dressed in red-trimmed robes move away from her towards the Gryffindor table. From their statures, she guessed two were male and the one walking in the middle female. The girl had long, blond her braided down her back.

"That was totally on purpose!" Cherry exclaimed indignantly. "Why would they do that?"

Mikano picked up her hat from where it had fallen on the floor.

"House enmity, I suppose." She looked around. Nobody seemed to have taken notice of what had happened. The last lunch stragglers were still arriving and people were occupied settling down at the set tables.

"Come, let's find the others," Mikano said, gripping Cherry's sleeve. Holding hands was alright but she still preferred a little less physical intimacy.

"My name is Fluvia Drizzle…"

"…And my name is Neville Longbottom."

"I will be teaching you the Potions part of Potions, Poisons, and Herbology…"

"…And I will be teaching you the Herbology - plant - part." Professor Longbottom smiled. "I just came by today to say hi, I won't have you until Wednesday. See you around." He left the dungeon classroom with a cheerful wave.

Mikano hid a smile behind her sleeve. Professor Longbottom seemed just as good-natured as her Aunt Esther had claimed he was.

Fluvia Drizzle, a tall witch with a sharp nose and wild, steel grey hair, continued: "The Thursday class will be a Potions practical because we have from now until 15:30, enough time to brew most first-year potions. The Monday class will be a Herbology lesson and you are to show up at Greenhous 1, not here. Tuesday is a theoretical class in this room sometimes taught by me, sometimes by Professor Longbottom." She looked at her class, Slytherins and Ravenclaws, over the top of her frameless glasses.

"Well, let's get right to it then! Today, in pairs, we are going to cook up a Boil Cure, a very simple potion which, if made correctly, will cure boil, hives, and the like." With a jap of her wand, numbered instructions began writing themselves on the blackboard behind her. "You can also find the recipe in _Magical Drafts and Potions_ , but it would be best if you kept your books off the work table. Ingredients are in the cupboards to the left, extra equipment in those to the right. But!" Professor Drizzle raised her voice, stilling the students who had begun getting up. "First, take off your robes and hats and put them in your bags or on your chairs! Never light a cauldron wearing something loose and flapping like your robes, or a hat with brim from which lint could fall off and ruin the potion."

She watched with sharp eyes as every student dutifully took off the named articles and stowed them.

" _Now_ , you may begin."

In her mind, Mikano acerbically wondered what the use of a uniform you constantly had to remove even was. Surely the civilians themselves would realize how impractical their chosen garments were when they were constantly getting reminders like this.

"Should I go get the ingredients?" Mikano asked Sasuke sitting beside her.

Sasuke cast a wary glance at the pink-haired horror who was getting up while looking his way with big hopeful eyes. At the next table, another girl, Ino Yamanaka, tall for her age, confident, with a long blond ponytail and a reputation for being a terrible gossip, alternatingly glared at Sakura with venom and gazed at Sasuke with admiration.

"Yeah, you better." Sasuke sought cover behind his copy of _Magical Draft and Potions_ , scanning the Boil Cure recipe. "We'll need snake fangs, horned slugs-"

"I can read, thank you," Mikano snapped as she got her own book out. "Light the fire under the cauldron and make yourself useful, coward." She was on her way to the cupboards before Sasuke had a chance to counter her dig. She liked that. Hit-and-run, real shinobi.

"Shikamaru, what are doing?" Mikano was amused and confused at finding her friend working methodically through every drawer within his reach of the dark-panelled cupboards lining the Slytherin common room.

"Ah, Mikano." Shikamaru turned around, displeasure evident on his face. "Do you have a kunai?"

"Eh, maybe?" Mikano was taken aback at the unexpected request. She thought she might have a kunai somewhere in her trunk though. She remembered considering packing one in any case.

"Can I borrow it?"

"Sure…" She drew her eyebrows in confusion but went to look for the knife nonetheless. She found two kunai and a throwing star in a side compartment of her trunk. It had a magical lock which would open only at her touch; her Dad had explained it had something to do with her 'magical signature'. Apparently, every magical person's magic was unique somehow which enabled people with keen magical senses to be able to distinguish between them. Like Orochimaru had mentioned Mikano might learn to do. Her Dad had not mentioned _that_ when he explained the lock to her.

Thinking about her first Magical Theory class added a little bounce to Mikano's steps.

Shikamaru had sat down on a couch while she was gone. He looked up and extended a hand towards her when she approached.

"Here," she said and handed him the weapon. "What do you need it for anyway?"

With a languid motion, Shikamaru grabbed his impressive pineapple ponytail close to his scalp. Pulling it taut with one hand, he used the kunai in his other hand to swiftly cut it off at the base.

Mikano could not help a little yelp as Shikamaru bangs fell forward, freed from the hair tie.

Shikamaru frowned at her reaction. "Relax, I told you the ponytail did not work with these Hogwarts hats."

"Couldn't you just let it down?" Mikano spluttered, trying to get a hold of herself.

"Loose hair is a drag. It would just fall into my face." He grimaced.

Mikano drew a deep breath. Really, Shikamaru could do what he wanted with his hair. It did not even matter. She had just been surprised when he had pulled something like that without a warning. People rarely chopped of long hair - it took so long to grow out! Mikano hated the idea of cutting her own hair. She loved it, loved its deep, red colour and thick, luxurious texture, loved how it tickled her lower back when she washed it.

Shikamaru had deposited his cut-off ponytail on the table beside the couch and begun slicing off locks of varying length. Mikano cringed at his careless ministrations.

"Hi Mikano!" Cherry skipped through the common room, strawberry blond curls gathered in two low pigtails. Her pointy hat had, like Mikano's, gone the moment they had come back to their dorm after Potions. It flattened her curls, she had confided in Mikano.

"What's going on?" Cherry had reached Mikano and put both hands on the back lean of Shikamaru's couch, leaning over to see what he was doing. She drew back with a strange expression on her face as if she didn't know if she should laugh or be upset.

"What are you _doing_ with that thing?" she asked Shikamaru, pointing at the kunai. "What is that even?"

"Kunai," he replied, not bothering to look up at her.

Cherry snatched it from his fingers as he brought it up again to cut another lock. She held it a hand's breadth from her face, turning it in her hands.

"Wow, is this a shinobi weapon?"

Shikamaru let himself fall back in the couch with a resigned sigh. Mikano answered.

"Yes. It's called a kunai." She pointed at the dagger-like weapon's double-edged blade. "It's really sharp, be careful."

Cherry was smart enough not to test Mikano's claim for herself. She looked at it fascinatedly and Mikano smiled. It was just a standard kunai, nothing special. A diamond-shaped, 7-inch blade, a handle wrapped in silk-worm bandage and a circular ring at the end.

"This is totally unsuited for haircutting," Cherry finally ruled with a disgruntled expression. Mikano hid a snicker behind her hand. Shikamaru looked at Cherry for the first time. Or rather, _glared_.

"I did try to find a pair of scissors." He made a faint movement towards the cupboards, many of which still had drawers hanging halfway out. "What is it to you anyway?"

"You look like your head got stuck in a lawnmower. You're offending my sense of aesthetics."

"Sod your sense of aesthetics," Shikamaru mumbled.

"What's a lawnmower?" asked Mikano interestedly.

"One sec." Cherry pressed the kunai into Mikano's hand and ran off towards the girl's dorm. She returned less than a minute later, a pair of scissors raised victoriously in her hand.

"Sit up, I'll fix your mess."

Shikamaru must have decided following instructions was less trouble than arguing for he did as she said. As she began evening out Shikamaru's dark, now very short, hair, she explained to Mikano as well as she could what exactly a lawnmower was.

Mikano listened attentively, balancing the kunai on her palm.

"That's actually pretty cool."

Mikano jumped and dropped the dagger. She had not noticed Eren standing right behind her at all.

"Merlin, Eren, you gave me the fright of my life!" She pressed a hand to her chest as she bent down to pick up the kunai. Her heart was racing.

"Sorry." Eren sounded uneasy. He drew back a little.

"Never mind, you should become a shinobi with that kind of stealthiness," she joked, trying to smooth over the uncomfortable situation. It worked. Sort of.

Eren snorted and said with a dry smile, "No thank you, I've heard the average life expectancy of shinobi is less than sixty. I'd like to meet my grandchildren."

Mikano winced. It sounded so harsh when said out loud, though it was true many shinobi never reached old age. She did not know if the actual life expectancy really _was_ 60 but it probably wasn't too far off. Not exactly a flattering statistic taking into consideration that magical people easily made it past twice that age before dying of natural courses.

"Alright, fair enough…" she conceded. "By the way, have you seen Sasuke? I would like to go check the library out."

Cherry giggled. "You sound like a Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw doesn't have a monopoly on brains," Mikano snapped. "My Dad is the smartest person I know, and he was in Hufflepuff."

"Morgana, Mikano, no need to get mad." Cherry looked gingerly at Mikano over her shoulder. "I was just saying."

"I think he left a while ago," Eren said quickly. "He didn't say why."

Mikano pursed her lips. "That's too bad. I'll just go alone then as it seems _other people_ think it's not _Slytherin_ enough to want to look at books."

"Mikano!" Cherry exclaimed, her eyes glassy as she turned to glare at Mikano. She threw the pair of scissors on the couch table. "It was just a joke, why are you so mean?"

Mikano took a step back. She had not meant to make Cherry _cry_.

"You're so easily offended, it's really hard to say anything to you!" Cherry continued, chin trembling. "I'm just trying to be _nice_. Friends _joke_ with each other. You joke with Sasuke! Why do you always get angry with _me_ when I don't even say anything _bad_?"

Mikano bit her lip and felt her own eyes sting. She liked Cherry. It was not on purpose, the way she automatically snapped at people. She could not help it, it just happened. She knew she did not have a lot of friends. Just Sasuke really, and perhaps Shikamaru. But in truth, he was more Naruto's friend than hers, and she had secretly been happy at Cherry's and Eren's attention, and now she was scared they would turn away from her because she was so cursed testy and rude, and she really did not want that…

"I'm sorry Cherry, I didn't mean it," she whispered hoarsely. She pulled awkwardly at her sleeves not really knowing what to do with her hands. "I'm really, really sorry, Cherry, I'm not angry at you or anything…" Her voice petered out as she stared stiffly at the floor. "I promise, I'll try to-" Mikano head jerked up just in time to catch Cherry who had flung herself at Mikano with open arms and a sob.

"It's okay, I forgive you," Cherry told Mikano for the second time that day, tears in her voice and on her cheeks.

Mikano hesitantly returned Cherry's hug. Her body was very soft and her curls tingled Mikano's nose. She could feel Cherry tremble quietly as she sniffed. Mikano herself had to draw a shaky breath. She supposed the first day at Hogwarts had been demanding for all of them, wearing them thin. And it was not over yet.

"So, did you finish?" Shikamaru asked after about a minute of self-conscious, sniffling silence. He ran both hands over his all but buzz cut head brushing off stray hairs.

Cherry disengaged from Mikano's embrace with a snivel and pulled her sleeve across her face.

"Yeah," she told him. "What's your name by the way? I don't really remember…" She sent Shikamaru an apologetic smile that made her round face with the dimpled, tear-streaked cheeks look unreservedly sweet and vulnerable. Mikano felt absolutely terrible she had made her cry.

"Shikamaru Nara," Shikamaru said as he got up, shaking cut strands of hair off his neck and robes. "I'll take a shower, this itches."

"Tell me the next time you want it cut!" Cherry called after him. He gave her an idle thumbs up without turning.

"Um, do you still want to go to the library?" Eren asked Mikano uncertainly, shifting on the floor. "Because I actually thought I would go and look for that book Professor Orochimaru talked about. You know, for extra help with the exercise." He trailed off.

Mikano sent him her best I'm-a-nice-person smile. "Sure." She turned to Cherry, biting the inside of her cheek. "Would you like to come too?"

Cherry beamed at her and grabbed her hand. "Let's go!"

Mikano hesitated. "Shouldn't we clean this up first?" She gestured with her free hand at the mess of hair on the couch and floor. What was that spell Mido had used at breakfast? _Scurrying?_ She felt for the wand in her robe pocket, only to realize she had left it in her school bag.

" _Scourgify_ ," Cherry said cheerfully, flicking her wand. " _Scourgify_ , _Scourgify_." With each repetition, piles of strands disappeared. When most of Shikamaru's hair had vanished, Cherry nodded in satisfaction and stowed her wand in a pocket. She picked up her scissors and, after a moment of consideration, let them follow the wand.

Mikano looked at Cherry rather impressed. She herself had never been able to get a spell to work properly when Naruto from time to time had pilfered their Mum's wand to practice spells they found in books from their home's or Konoha's public library.

Noticing Mikano's expression, Cherry winked at her. "You know my Mum studies Magical Theory. She taught me the basics a while ago and some nice-to-know spells like _Lumos_ , _Tempus,_ and, well, _Scourgify_. _Tergeo_ is really good for dusting things off too."

"Cherry," Eren said, covert respect in his voice, "do you think you could help me with the Magical Theory stuff? I feel like I'm really behind already."

"Sure," Cherry said happily, "let's practice together tonight! But now, let's go find that library before it's time for dinner!"

"Mikano, we have to go now or we'll be late for dinner. _Tempus_!" Glowing numbers showing 17:50 appeared in the air in front of Cherry. "See?"

Mikano hummed noncommittally and kept perusing the library shelves. This part of Hogwarts was brilliant! The Hogwarts Library was definitely larger than the Konoha one and stocked with what had to be hundreds of thousands of books. Mikano wanted to just sit down where she stood and start reading.

The only disadvantage to the Hogwarts Library was how perfectly disorganized it appeared to be, at least to Mikano's eyes. Therefore, they had spent their first thirty minutes just shuffling around among the shelves trying to get an idea about where different sections were. Mikano had been especially delighted to find a book in the Magical Theory section about magical sensing. She was currently carrying it in her arms along with _Hogwarts: A History_ by Bathilda Bagshot, a mighty tome which had seemed interesting to somebody about to spend seven years in the castle, and _101 Easy Charms: Spells you cannot live without!_ by Corelli Trickerby, which had seemed useful if a little tacky.

"Mikano, come on! I'm hungry!" Cherry pulled Mikano's arm. Mikano reluctantly followed. As a matter of fact, she was hungry too.

"I already checked out this one." Eren held up _Minding the Mystery: Initiating the Inept_ by Wrillus Whackwood. "You can do it right over there." He pointed at an unmanned desk holding a quill, an inkpot, and a scroll pinned to the tabletop by four golden brass weights.

"Alright," Mikano sighed, heaving her hardback harvest towards the desk.

Checking the books out was a simple matter of writing your name and the title and author of the book you wanted to borrow in a table on the parchment. The letters lit up for a moment when you finished a line, and Mikano wondered what would happen if you left with a book without noting it down on the scroll.

The library was on the first floor and with the help of a couple of nice portraits and Cherry's terrific sense of direction, getting to the Entrance Hall was no matter at all. They joined the steady stream of students entering the Great Hall and moved towards the Slytherin table, Mikano's arms full of books.

They sat down next to Shikamaru who would have been almost unrecognisable with his new hairstyle had it not been for the trademark expression of annoyed boredom on his face.

A few minutes after the food had appeared, Sasuke came sauntering in through the great double doors walking between Itachi and another, older, boy. Mikano recognised the older boy from the Uchiha district of Konoha, and it wasn't the first time she had seen him with Itachi.

He was taller than Itachi and broader over the shoulders too. His hair was dark and ruffled and his nose a little to the wide side. Like Itachi, he had defined tear troughs though his were deeper and not as long. They gave the tall boy a serious, thoughtful look while Itachi's reminded one of a cheetah's facial markings.

Inside the Great Hall, the three parted ways, Itachi going to the Ravenclaw table, the other boy to Hufflepuff, and Sasuke heading towards Mikano and the others.

"You were with Itachi all this time?" Mikano half stated, half asked as Sasuke sat down across from her and began forking potatoes onto his plate.

"Yes," came the smug reply.

"Good for you," she said, a little annoyed. She would have liked to come to.

"I asked him about the robe trimmings."

"I already asked Mido."

"He thought it was the house-elves."

"So did Mido."

"And then he showed me the kitchens."

"That's nice, we'll have something to do after dinner!" Her voice was subtly, sardonically challenging.

"No way, I'm keeping this secret for future negotiations."

"You're a terrible friend."

"I'm Slytherin."

"So are we."

"I'm happy you understand then."

Cherry laughed openly and Eren had to hide a smile behind his sleeve. Mikano glared at Sasuke who was eating his cauliflower with undisturbed pleasure. Sucker.

She inched closer to the table, careful not to let the books in her lap slide off. It took her less than a second to find a suitable carrot to balance her nicely straight fork on, another second to load, and then a glob of jelly was being hurled through the air.

It hit Sasuke just right of his nose where it slid down his cheek, finally dripping down on his plate with a wet plop.

He glowered at her with a deadpan expression while Shikamaru choked on his juice. "Are you Naruto in disguise or have you just turned excessively annoying since I last saw you two hours ago?"

"You flatter me; my aim really isn't as good as my brother's."

Sasuke took a napkin and removed the smear from his face while closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

"Mi. Ki."

"Sa. Suke."

"Come on Sasuke, you deserved that," Cherry broke in as she used her thump to rub off a hint of jelly from Sasuke's nose. Sasuke froze at the touch then batted her hand away.

"I most certainly did not," he declared a little haughtily.

"You most certainly did," Mikano replied, mockingly imitating his lofty tone.

"You two!" Cherry threw up her hands in exasperation and almost knocked over a canter. "Will you stop fighting?"

"I'm not fighting," Sasuke defended himself. " _She's_ the one with the catapult."

Mikano gave the end of her fork some tentative pushes, making it seesaw on the carrot. Cherry swiftly picked both fork and vegetable off the table and took a crunchy bite of the carrot.

"I said stop!" she repeated, mouth full of food.

Mikano sighed and dropped her antics. With a smile, she quickly pulled out the book on sensing magic and animatedly began explaining to her tablemates what Orochimaru had told her about the potential running in her Uzumaki blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I began writing this during the first corona lockdown back in April and proofing it now, I realize my main character can be a mean, peevish little shite sometimes. Well. She'll follow the Law of Wine and improve with age, believe it!


	6. Allies and Enemies: Sometimes they come in a pair

Like the day before, Mikano had trouble concentrating on her meditation for her friends chattering in the couches and chairs around her. Over the background noise of a full common room celebrating the coming of the weekend, Cherry's amiable voice could be heard patiently guiding Eren in his search for the magic inside him which he still could not find.

"I'm a squib," Eren moaned, burying his face in his hands.

"No you're not," said Cherry determinately, "or you would not have gotten your Hogwarts letter, right?"

"If I can't even find my magic, I'll never be able to use my wand!"

Friday's first class had been Charms, Spells and Transfiguration with Hufflepuff. The tiny Professor Flitwick had talked to them about the Wand-Lighting Charm from on top of the stack of books he had to use to be able to see over the top of his desk. For Monday's double lesson, they had read about the charm and its counterspell, the Wand-Extinguishing Charm, in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_ by Miranda Goshawk. Professor Flitwick had chuckled at Hinata's dark-skinned Hufflepuff friend's question 'if they weren't going to practice it?'

"Not before you have mastered moulding with Professor Orochimaru, oh no, you would just blow something up and we shan't be practising that until your second year!" the green-robed man had said good-naturedly. Hence Eren's lament.

And mastering moulding, or at least the first steps in moulding, was exactly what Mikano was trying to do - would be doing if not for the noise her friends and the rest of the Slytherins were making.

Mikano sighed and opened her eyes. At least she had been able to produce some heat in her palms yesterday when she eventually had given in to her desire for quiet and escaped to her dorm where she could meditate in peace. That success had made her exuberant, and she had wanted to practice some more for Monday's class. But she had the whole weekend for that.

She looked around. Shikamaru wasn't around, perhaps hanging out with Choji, his… _heavy-boned_ best friend who had been sorted into Hufflepuff. Sasuke was reclining in the couch he shared with Mikano, reading in his Spells book. Mikano was thinking she might as well do the same and get over with the homework when two older Slytherins approached.

"Hi," said Eric and smiled. "I hope my little brother isn't causing trouble for you?"

Cherry smiled at the prefect so her dimples showed. "Not at all." She took Eren's bony hand in her own plump ones, making the boy shift awkwardly.

Eric laughed. "Alright, it's nice to see he is in good _hands_." He winked exaggeratedly at his little pun then turned more serious. "I actually came over because I wanted to introduce you to somebody." It was clear he was speaking at least as much to Mikano and Sasuke as to his brother and Cherry now.

Mikano curiously looked at the other boy. He had a friendly face with onyx eyes behind large, round glasses with thick black rims. His hair was grey as ash and gathered in a low, spiky ponytail. He had high, short bangs parted in the middle, and Mikano could tell he was a shinobi even before Eric told her his name.

"Kabuto, this is Mikano Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Cherry Aagard, and my little brother Eren. Guys, Kabuto Yakushi."

Kabuto inclined his heads towards the first-years, smiling pleasantly. "It's nice to meet you. As Eric said, my name is Kabuto and I'm a seventh-year prefect. You are always welcome to come to me if you need anything."

Mikano noticed the way he surveyed their table with intelligent eyes as they mumbled their thanks for his offer.

"Are you having trouble with Magical Theory?" Kabuto asked Eren out of the blue. He pointed at _Minding the Mystery_ which lay open on the table.

Eren looked down sheepish and as discreetly as possible pulled his fingers out of Cherry's hands. "Yeah well, I know it sounds dumb, but I can't, you know, _find_ my magic. It just isn't there." He exhaled in repressed frustration.

"Would you like me to help you?" Kabuto asked.

Eren looked at him with wide eyes under his uneven fringes, obviously startled.

"Okay, I'm out," Eric said drily. "I don't have Kabuto's saintly patience with lost little firsties. Eren, take him up on his offer or you are as dumb as a monkey. This one is a genius." He put a hand on Kabuto's shoulder.

Kabuto chuckled. "Easy with the praise Eric or they'll just be disappointed when they actually get to know me."

"Right," Eric snorted. "Slytherin house sure as Salazar did not get its reputation for evil thugs from you, my virtuous friend. Bye." He left.

Kabuto sat down in the plush chair next to Eren, smiling apologetically. "Never mind him," he said. "Now, I really do think I can help you, Eren. I'm a healer, you see, and I have some experience working with damage to the internal magical system. Not that yours is damaged," he added quickly at Eren's horrified expression. "But what I can do is reach in and stimulate your magical system in a way that I am sure you will be able to feel. It is a way to establish contact between a young Wizard and their magical system. Would you like to try that?"

Eren nodded cautiously. Sasuke had put his book down, observing Kabuto and Eren with keen, dark eyes. Kabuto reached his hands towards Eren, palms up.

"Put your hands in mine. Yes, like that. Relax, it won't hurt. Close your eyes. Breathe as Professor Orochimaru has taught you. Good. Pay careful attention to your body, I'll begin now… Do you feel it?"

Eren's face shuddered and his jaw went slack. Kabuto's eyes were closed as well, his pose relaxed. If Mikano squinted, she thought she could see a faint blue glow shimmering around their joint hands.

"Yeah, yeah, I can," Eren mumbled. "Wow, is that my magic? It feels funny…"

"I'll draw it back to your core now so notice its path. If you are attentive, you will be able to find it on your own later." A tiny crease appeared between Kabuto's eyebrows. Mikano, Cherry and Sasuke were all watching the pair enraptured.

Finally, Kabuto released Eren's hands and leant back in his armchair. Eren blinked his eyes open.

"Wow, thank you, Kabuto!" He rubbed his arms with an awed expression on his pointy face.

"Your welcome," Kabuto smiled.

"That was amazing." Mikano leaned forward in her excitement. "What did you do?"

"I basically manipulated the unmoulded magic inside him-"

"Can you really do that?" it shot out of Mikano. She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth. Not only was it rude to interrupt, but it was also a stupid question. The man had _literally_ _just said_ he could. "Sorry," she added quickly.

"No, you're right; it is an extremely difficult thing to do. I am only able to because of my healer training. Internal magical systems are delicate and don't like to be meddled with by outsiders." Kabuto chuckled.

"So you are a Medical-nin?" Sasuke asked. 'Nin' was another term for shinobi used as a suffix or prefix in for example Medical-nin, Missing-nin or nin-ken. Missing-nins were shinobi who had committed a grave crime and abandoned their village, becoming outlaws as a result. Nin-kens were shinobi dogs, magical canines with special abilities sometimes including the one to speak.

Kabuto bent his head so the light from the lamp hanging above their couch table flashed in his thick glasses. "I am."

Sasuke nodded unsurprised and picked up his Spells book again.

"Do you need help with anything else?" Kabuto extended his arms above his head, stretching like a cat.

Mikano shook her head. "Classes haven't really picked up yet."

On top of Spells, they had had History of Magic, Broomstick Riding, Societal Studies and Defence today. Their History of Magic teacher Professor Bellowicz, a middle-aged man with stubble and bags under his eyes, had with dry passion declared that they would be studying Goblin rebellions until Halloween and then move on to the four Great Shinobi Wars. Mikano was curious to find out how Hogwarts treated the later topic which she had already studied extensively at the Academy.

Broomstick Riding had been boring as they were only allowed to pick up their brooms and hover, not even fly. Also, the school brooms were terribly outdated and _crooked_. However, as Slytherin shared the class with Gryffindor, and therefore Naruto, Mikano was absolutely certain it would be plenty of entertaining in the future - especially because of Sasuke's childish rivalry with her twin. Honestly, he beat Naruto at pretty much everything they contested in. What was the fun in a "rival" you obviously outclassed?

In Societal Studies, Mikano had met the short, purple-robed witch from Station 9¾. Jennifer Civildock was an energetic, American witch who had come to the UK to study British Wizarding culture and accidentally landed herself a job as Hogwarts' Social Studies teacher a few years ago. Professor Civildock was fervently passionate about her subject which included the study of Muggles, the Wizarding society, and the shinobi world. They had done nothing academic in the class at all yet, instead playing name games and 'getting to know each other.' The one benefit of that otherwise embarrassing experience was that Mikano had finally learned the names of her fellow Slytherin first-years.

Defence with the Gryffindors had been fun. True to his character, Obito had been _late_ though thankfully not by too much. Although Obito winked at her while correcting her hold on her wand, their interactions had otherwise been professional. Professor Uchiha sounded so formal. He was a good teacher, one who made everybody feel comfortable and pay attention. Or well almost everybody. As penance for throwing paper balls at Kiba, Obito had used Naruto for a practical demonstration, swiftly hefting the boy upside down in the air with a spell. This made everybody, especially Naruto, laugh, and Obito had deftly turned the spectacle into a lesson on creativity in battle. Mikano had never known how _competent_ her goofy Uncle could be (overlooking his persistent habit of lateness).

"Would you mind if I did some homework here then?" Kabuto asked easily.

Mikano blinked. "Sure," she said. "Feel free."

Kabuto nodded and pulled out a scroll from his cloak. He settled into his armchair, crossed his ankles, and began reading.

Mikano was beginning to feel drowsy but it was too early to go to bed yet, and she still had her Spells homework. She found the book in her bag with a little smile. She did not really mind homework; learning more about magic was exciting. She just wished she soon would be able to perform it and not just _read_ about it.

She wriggled herself deeper into the cushions of the leather couch. Warm air caressed her skin, the rich smell of living room, fire, and stone filled her nostrils, and the sound of other humans talking, laughing, and scratching with quills on parchment made its way into her ears, all these sensations coming together in a soft sense of comfort that enveloped Mikano like a blanket.

The weekend passed quickly. Together with Sasuke, Cherry and Eren, Mikano explored Hogwarts castle and the grounds. Hogwarts was huge and its corridors many. They found a number of dusty classrooms that appeared to have been disused for centuries, many corridors turned out to be dead ends, and they got lost more times than they cared to count. At some point, the Hogwarts poltergeist, who Mikano from Mido's descriptions of its shrill laughter and obnoxious behaviour, correctly identified as Peeves, chased them to the very top of the Astronomy Tower with a carpet bombing of assorted pastries.

When Monday came around, Mikano could not wait for the morning classes to be over with. Sure Spells was interesting, and Professor Flitwick transfigured a cupboard into a pony, and don't misunderstand, hearing about how Muggles used something called _electricity_ as a substitute for magic _was_ fascinating but neither came anywhere close to actually learning how to do magic yourself.

When Orochimaru stepped into his classroom through the invisible door behind his desk, the Hufflepuff and Slytherin first-years immediately fell quiet. Orochimaru smiled.

"The goal of today's lesson is to have everybody be able to at least perform the exercise from Thursday, and to advance those who already can." He began pacing. "As written in the chapter you have read for today, the magic inside you flows through every part of your body, through each of your limbs, very much like your blood does. Still, it has a centre, similar to what your blood has in your heart, here." He splayed a long-fingered, pale hand across his stomach.

"This is where you most likely will 'find' your magic. To a practised Wizard, it will appear more tangible and substantial than it will to your untrained senses. Finding and manipulating your unmoulded magic can be challenging at first because it is done with a part of your brain you have never consciously used before - a sixth sense so to say."

Mikano nodded slowly to herself. Finding her magic had been like the time she was trying to learn how to raise one eyebrow at a time instead of both. She _could not_ find the right muscle until suddenly it just happened and she was staring at her own carefully unimpressed expression in the mirror.

"However, this sixth sense is part of you," Orochimaru continued, "and as soon as you discover and train it, using it will become completely natural and effortless. This is what lets Wizards mould magic in the fraction of a second before they cast a spell." He let his eyes glide over his pupils.

"Now, the next step in learning moulding is to improve your control over your internal magical system. When you have mastered heating your palms with a flow of unmoulded magic, you are going to practice directing the flow to other parts of your body. On top of being a great exercise for improving control, it also has practical appliances." He gestured with his hands as he paced unhurriedly, his attention never leaving his audience.

"Being able to heat your body using only the circulation of unmoulded magic might save your life in a blizzard. By drawing large amounts of energy to a wound, you will be able to prompt the body to heal minor injuries or knit the edges, stopping the blood flow, of larger ones. By focusing your magic in your legs, you can run at speeds and leap distances which would otherwise be impossible. You can heighten your senses and strengthen your muscles;" Orochimaru faced the class, standing still, "all this without the need of a wand. Can anybody here imagine when that might be useful?"

Nobody answered. Orochimaru's lips quirked in a half-amused smile.

"Don't be shy, I don't bite. Speak up."

"If you've lost your wand in the blizzard," a Slytherin boy tried. Orochimaru nodded in encouragement.

"If your wand breaks in a fight," the Lestrange girl said darkly.

"If your dog steals your wand and you have to catch it!" It was Hinata's curly-haired girl friend. There were glee and excitement in her voice. Beside her, Hinata was looking down at her lap making her short hair fall forward, hiding her face from where Mikano was sitting.

"If you are captured and hurt and the captors have taken your wand," Mikano added, thinking this was a very likely scenario in the world of shinobi.

"If you have to do something you don't know the spell for," said Sasuke, chin resting on his intertwined fingers.

"If you can't find your wand."

"If you have to cross a canyon!"

"If you're late for class and have to run fast."

More students, encouraged by their classmates' participation, came with suggestions of their own. Orochimaru finally held up a hand and the class instantly fell quiet.

"I am glad you too realize the exquisite usefulness of the skill we are learning. It should motivate you to take this seriously and work hard." He drew his wand. "Now, almost a quarter of our time today has gone and we have yet to practice. If you are struggling and need assistance, put your wand on your desk and I will come to you. If you have already mastered the exercise from yesterday, try moving the flow of magic around inside you. If you want to test if it is working, you can put a magic-filled palm against the area you are focusing on: if heat occurs, you are doing it right; where two streams of unmoulded magic meet, heat is the result. Understand?"

The class nodded.

"Good, then begin. Remember, wands on the table if you need help!"

Mikano kept her wand in her bag. She crossed her legs and gathered her hands in her lap. Eyes closed, exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

She found the pit of power inside her easily. She remembered Orochimaru's words from last class and refrained from submerging herself in it. It was a lot like regular meditation in that way, observing one's thoughts instead of moving with them.

She could feel the magic's subtle flow through her body. It did not _thump_ as her blood did. It moved evenly, smoothly, drawing through the centre of her body where it pooled like an ocean.

She already had a much better feel for her magic then just four days ago. The most notable difference was that her magic no longer felt like a dreamy, ephemeral shimmering in her tummy. It felt, as Orochimaru had described it, tangible. Tangible power moving through her veins, or whatever unmoulded magic used to move around.

She drew a deep, steady breath then exhaled.

Her will would be like the moon drawing the magic from its sink in her core.

It still felt a little awkward, directing the flow of her magic. Like touching something with a sleeping hand. The magic resisted, slipped away. She had to breathe deeply not to get angry and kept reminding herself to 'keep her distance' so to say.

Realizing that what she was doing was not working, Mikano clenched her jaw, then relaxed all the muscles in her face.

Orochimaru said directing the flow of your magic should feel natural, effortless. It should not be a struggle. The magic was part of her, not some separate entity she had to dominate any more than she had to dominate her right hand. Maybe she was forcing it?

Clearing her mind, Mikano faintly willed her magic to gather in her knees where her hands were resting. It was a wordless thought, a disinterested wisp of a command. It worked. Heat pooled between her palms and knees and Mikano could not help a whispered:

"Yes!"

Her concentration broke but she did not mind. She opened her eyes to find Orochimaru sitting behind his desk reading a scroll. As if he felt her gaze upon him, he looked up. Mikano quickly averted her eyes and felt an awkward twist in her stomach when she heard their tall professor's chair being pushed back and Orochimaru rise.

"Class is almost over. For our classes Thursday, you are to read chapter 2 and 3 of _Magical Theory: An Introduction_ and write a four-inch essay on the importance of being able to direct the flow of unmoulded magic inside your own body. Furthermore, I expect you all to prioritize practising the exercises I have given you. If you work hard, I should think Professor Flitwick will let you try out actual spells within next week. Dismissed."

An excited murmur broke out among the students as they packed their bags and got up to leave.

"It'll be really fun to see Professor Flitwick's face when I do _Lumos_ first try in class, don't you think?" Cherry said cheerfully as she hefted her bag over her shoulder.

"Even better when the three of us follow suit because you already taught us the spell." A smile ghosted over Sasuke's lips. At some point during the weekend, the four Slytherin first-years had begun thinking of themselves as a unit.

"Why do you think I would teach you any spell at all when you won't tell us where the kitchens are?" Cherry sniffed in affected hurt.

"Those two don't compare." Sasuke snorted. " _Lumos_ is probably a very easy charm to master if it is the first spell taught to the first-years."

Cherry stuck out her tongue at him and waved at the portrait in yellow robes which had helped them find their way the week before.

Mikano hit Sasuke on arm. "Smartarse."

He scrunched his nose at her. "Nice comeback." His face broke in a wide grin. "And you really should train more; that felt more like a tap than a punch." He bolted, one hand on his hat the other keeping his bag in place.

"I'll give you _tap_ ," Mikano growled as she set after him.

"Wait for us!" Cherry cried behind her.

"Don't leave us like that!" Cherry berated Mikano and Sasuke when she and Eren joined them outside Greenhouse One. Mikano tried to put on a mask of repentance for Cherry's sake while Sasuke blatantly ignored her, instead trying to peer through the murky greenhouse glass at the plants inside.

Cherry seemed to realize nobody was actually listening: She threw her hands in the air and mumbled, "Bother."

"Sorry, may I pass you?"

Cherry spun with a little gasp. "Hi, sorry, yeah, sure… eh, sir," she stammered.

Professor Longbottom had a strong, clean-shaven jaw. Brown, ruffled hair peeked out from under the black Wizarding hat he wore; his skin was sunburned and a little weathered though he appeared to only be in his late twenties or perhaps early thirties. Now that Mikano had the chance to look at him properly - he had been too far away in the Potions classroom - she was able to recognise some of Aunt Esther's features in his face… There was something about the shape of his kind chocolate brown eyes, about the way the smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"Thank you," he said. Then: "May I have your name young lady?"

"Cherry, Cherry Aagard." Cherry smiled her dimple-smile and looked up at the professor.

"Hello, Cherry. I'm Professor Longbottom, in case you don't recognise me from last time." His gaze shifted to the three other children. "And you are?"

They told him.

He looked at Mikano with interested eyes. "Uzumaki… Would you happen to know my cousin, Esther, by any chance?

Mikano returned his smile, pulling on a lock of her long red hair. "She's married to my Uncle, yeah. I should say hi from her. too"

"Thank you. Say hi back if you write to her."

"I will," she assured him.

"Well," he grinned, "this is a very nice conversation but I think we'll have to start class now and unfortunately you are blocking the door." He pointed over Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke sprang out of the way with a mumbled apology and Mikano snickered into her sleeve.

"Also, Miss Uzumaki," Professor Longbottom turned his head back towards them in the doorway, "you are going to want to tie that hair in a knot. We wouldn't want it plucked by a curious Scissor Leaf sapling, would we?"

Now it was Mikano's turn to blush and Sasuke's to laugh. Cherry offered to do a nice braid in Mikano's hair for tomorrow, and Eren mumbled something about 'girls' as he followed Sasuke into the greenhouse.

Still outside, Mikano fumbled with a hair tie as all the other Slytherins and Ravenclaws passed her. The Lestrange girl sniffed derisively as she swept past her, her own dark curls gathered in a low ponytail. Mikano suddenly found herself hoping the Scissor Leaf thingy would have some luck today, after all.

With chapters to read and essays to write in both Spells, Societal Studies, Magical Theory and Herbology, the afternoon was spent doing homework in the Slytherin common room. Just before dinner, Mikano went to the Owlery with Cherry who, unlike Mikano, remembered the way from the weekend's explorations.

Saturday morning, Mikano had received a letter from home, obviously written by her Dad going by the tone and handwriting, asking her about how Hogwarts was, how she liked her House, and if there were any nice people around. There was a PS after the 'your loving parents' in another script. Mikano could almost hear her mom say the words out loud through clenched teeth, pressing her fingers against her temples.

_Mikano_ , it had read, _I thought we had the understanding that you would keep your brother as reined in as it is reasonable to expect anybody to be able to restrain that little fire monkey. I am not saying you are responsible for you brother nor that you should mother him (THE FIRST KNOWS THAT'S MY JOB, THE BRAT IS DOING THE DISHES UNTIL GRADUATION!), but in the future, could you_ try _to at least keep Naruto out of FURTHER ECONOMICALLY RUINOUS trouble?_ The word "FURTHER" had been underscored twice.

It took no genius to figure out the bill from the Hogwarts Express had reached her parents in Konoha. She would have loved to see Naruto's letter if this was the (albeit understated) scolding she - who had really done nothing wrong! - got. Tough luck though, the boy had probably thrown it in the fireplace without even opening it, anticipating its content.

Now, two days after she had received the letter, she was ready with her reply. In the Owlery, Mikano would have had trouble recognising her Duchess among the many other tawny owls if her familiar had not approached her on its own when she called its name.

Duchess nuzzled her fingers and she stroked its feathery neck.

"It's so sweet," Cherry cooed. Duchess let herself be fussed over and fed a number of owl treats by Mikano's friend before she stuck out her leg. Mikano fastened her rolled-up letter to the owl's claws and instructed Duchess to bring it to her parents.

Mikano and Cherry then began the long climb down. In the Great Hall, dinner would be about to start. While they jogged down the stairs, Mikano made the decision to slip away after the meal to practice Orochimaru's exercises in the quiet of the library.

Mikano let her magic go with an exhale. She took a few seconds to feel it stretch and then smoothly sink back into her core, returning through the pathways running up her legs.

She had been practising concentrating the energy in certain parts of her body, moving it around with her detached will as a magnet would move metal. It was very satisfying how much progress she seemed to be making with every practice session. In the end, she had been able to focus her unmoulded magic in her feet though it had not been very much or for very long. Still, _she had done it_.

With a pleased smile playing on her lips, Mikano opened her eyes and stretched. Sitting down for so long had made her body stiff. She looked up at the clock she had noted earlier and saw it was only a little past eight. Now she had options. She could return to her common room where she guessed her three friends would be. Cherry was probably upset she had snuck away after dinner without saying where to. On the other hand, Mikano had finished all homework due tomorrow already so she could also try to find Mido. She had wanted to ask her cousin about the sensing thing Orochimaru had mentioned.

Mikano had always connected well with Mido though the girl was multiple years older. Mido was intelligent and studious and liked books as Mikano did. She was also less of a loudmouth than Umiyo, her tomboyish sister. There was a good chance Mido had investigated the potential of their Uzumaki blood even if she had not cared to disclose any of it to Mikano, though she had to be aware that was exactly the kind of thing Mikano would be interested to know!

Mikano pursed her lips. Perhaps it would be easier to find Mido some other time like after a meal in the Great Hall where she could easily scout out her long, straight, beet red hair at the Gryffindor table. Yes, Mikano should return to the Slytherin dungeon for now. And hadn't Cherry said something about braiding? Mikano fingered her left bang, twirling it around her index finger. Yes, a braid would be nice.

She stood up and brushed lint of her cloak.

She had only made it halfway down the first corridor leading away from the closed library door when she was tripped from behind. She tumbled over, instinctively trying to break the fall with her shoulder like they had taught her in the Academy. But she had never been good at the physical stuff and though she managed to roll a little, connecting with the cold stone floor still hurt.

She heard giggles behind her and the footsteps of more than one person approaching. She simultaneously spun around and clumsily got to her feet, almost tripping on the ridiculous robe's hem in the process.

Three Gryffindors, two boys and a girl, all significantly older than Mikano were quickly covering the metres of hallway separating them, having apparently come through the door leading into the study hall next to the library. Though she had never seen their faces before, it was not hard for Mikano to connect their fronts with the backs of the students who had tripped her last week as she and Cherry entered the Great Hall.

"Look at that, I think the kitty is scared of us!" the boy on the left sniggered, mock-worry in his voice. He was tapping his wand against his thigh and Mikano guessed he was the one who had somehow made her trip. His short hair was a tumble of golden-brown curls and Mikano supposed he could have been handsome if not for the sneer twisting his mouth.

"I think you are right Hannibal dear!" said the thin-faced girl striding in the middle. "But how can that be? I thought _shinobi_ were fearless?" The word 'shinobi' was said with enough venom to make Mikano take an involuntary step back. She had a strong urge to turn around and flee but something inside her kept her where she stood, eyes wide, heart beating fast, her left hand clutched over her right upper arm where a throbbing pain from her collision with the floor was settling.

She wished she had her wand, but it was safely tucked away in her schoolbag on her bed back in the dungeons. And even if she had had it, what then? It wasn't like she could _use_ it yet. Still, the need for a weapon tugged inside her with a force Mikano never before had experienced. She crouched a little, teeth clenched, as the three grinning Gryffindors closed in on her, Hannibal's wand lazily raised. Closer… Closer…

"What's going on here?" The bark cut through the quiet hallway like a kunai through a straw dummy. It made the blond girl shriek and spin around, her braid swinging. Hannibal and the other boy, who was broad-shouldered and thin-lipped, with mud-brown hair and close-set, peering, dark eyes, both started and turned to the voice.

Two students in Slytherin robes had come out of the Study Hall and were marching towards them. As they got closer, Mikano realized they were shinobi. They had to be, with the way one had a bandage wrapped over her eyes and the other flashed canines when she bared her teeth. The latter looked mightily angry in a ferocious sort of way as her school robes billowed behind her.

"Screw you, slimy shinobi!" sneered Hannibal at the two approaching girls, both at least a year younger than him, and turned on his heel. His shoulder bumped Mikano's hard as he shoved past her hurrying down the hallway along with his two friends. She stumbled and gasped with the impact on her bruised arm.

The snarling girl with the canines halted when she reached Mikano, her light dusty-green eyes, however, still trained on the three Gryffindors till they turned a corner. Her fingers, partly wrapped in bandage, flexed and bent as if she wanted to grab them. Her gaze, pupilless and sharp with vigilance, then fell on Mikano.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Her voice was deep and rough with anger.

Mikano shook her head.

"I swear those Gryffindor bastards…"

The other girl, the one with bandages wrapped around her eyes, put a hand on the growling one's shoulder, making her stiff pose relax imperceptibly.

"Watch out for those three," the bandaged one said. "They like to pick on shinobi children when they venture out alone and are easy targets. Especially the Slytherins." She smiled humourlessly. "Bigotry and house enmity do not mix well."

"Thank you," Mikano said politely, looking more closely at her saviours. They were both obviously and unapologetically _shinobi_. Everything about the fanged one's appearance, from her bandage-wrapped hands to her long, grey hair which had to be even wilder than Naruto, screamed non-Civilian. The other one was the same. Her straight, shoulder-length hair was white as snow but with peculiar shades of blue, and something about the way she moved, smoothly, flowingly, reminded Mikano of water; the kind that dragged you under. And then there was, of course, the fact that she appeared to navigate the world just fine though her eyes were completely covered by bandages. Neither wore the pointy, wide-brimmed Hogwarts hats.

"No need to thank us," the girl's canines flashed in a smile. "You're Mido's cousin, aren't you?"

"Yes," Mikano blurted. "How did you know?"

"The hair," she grinned.

Right. Obviously. The hair. Her bright-as-a-flash-light tomato red hair. Mikano slumped at her ignorant question.

"And also because Mido has been talking about you," the girl continued, teasingly.

Mikano's head shot up. "You know Mido?" It came out sounding a little suspicious so she quickly added: "If you don't mind me asking."

The girl with the wild, grey hair laughed rowdily. "You're a polite one, aren't you?"

Mikano did not know how to respond to that but fortunately, it appeared to have been a rhetorical question as the girl continued:

"I'm her teammate, Hiyo Kurami. And this is Arashi Hozuki. We are both fourth-years. I'm hurt, hasn't she mentioned me?" It was clear from her tone she was only jesting.

Mikano still pursed her lips actually considered the question. Had Mido not mentioned her teammates to her? She and Mido had only really seen each other during the summer and Christmas holidays since Mido had begun Hogwarts three years ago. But hadn't Mido mentioned an absolutely insufferable teammate when she returned home for Christmas in her second year?

"Never mind, I don't remember your name either," Hiyo said, patting Mikano's shoulder. "I wasn't really paying attention during the sorting." She grinned sheepishly.

"No, you were too busy ensuring I wasn't either," the other girl, Arashi, said dryly. "I almost missed my little brother being sorted. Torigetsu Hozuki, do you know him?"

"Not really," Mikano answered a little stiffly, "but I do remember him from the Academy. We were in the same year," she added redundantly.

"He doesn't like to make a spectacle of himself." There was a note of something deeper in Arashi's voice. After a short, to Mikano _awkward_ , silence, she said: "I think we should head back to the common room now. No point standing in the middle of a hallway."

Hiyo nodded and the two fourth-years began walking down the hall. Mikano was not sure if she should follow until Arashi called out without turning her head:

"Aren't you coming?"

Mikano hurried after them, catching up with their longer strides.

"Now, what _is_ your name, cousin of Mido?" asked Arashi.

The pace was making Mikano slightly lose her breath. "Mikano Uzumaki."

Arashi nodded once in reply. They were on the great marble staircase leading to the Entrance Hall by now. Suddenly Mikano noticed movement under Arashi bluish-white hair. A mouse was peeking out, a little, white mouse. It stared right at her with shiny black eyes.

Arashi laughed. "What do you think of Nuru?"

Hiyo snorted. Mikano was confused.

"The… mouse?"

"Hello Mikano," said the mouse, it's voice high and squeaky though not loud.

Mikano stumbled on the steps having not expected it to speak. She quickly recovered her footing though, both literally and metaphorically.

"Hello Nuru, pleased to meet you," she replied smoothly.

Hiyo laughed loudly. "Taking it in stride like a real shinobi. You should have seen our civilian classmates' faces when they first discovered Ari's familiars!"

Mikano smiled. Talking mice was not all that shocking when you had grown up with Uncle Kakashi's talking nin-ken - shinobi dogs. When tasked with looking after Mikano and her siblings for a couple of hours, Kakashi would often summon Pakkun, a tiny, gruff, brown pug, and promptly Disapparate leaving the grumpy dog to take care of two then three then four kids as the years passed. Mikano had come to care greatly for the little pug with its rough voice, sad face, blue vest, and shinobi headband.

The mouse had pulled its pointy face back behind the curtain of hair, once more hidden from view.

"Nuru has two brothers, Niro and Nero, but they are asleep." Arashi brushed her fingertips over her chest where Mikano only now noticed the strange but discreet bump between Arashi's breasts. It quivered softly at her touch. The loose Hogwarts robes hid the lump well.

"Do you have a pocket or?" Mikano could not help being curious as to how the nin-mice stayed in place though exactly _where_ they were staying brought a faint blush to her cheeks.

"Yes, on the inside of my shirt. It's convenient for everyday use," there was a smile in Arashi's pleasantly even voice, "though I have a special flak jacket with outside pockets for missions."

Mikano would have liked to know more Arashi's nin-mice, especially what function they served for Arashi (she had some ideas), but knew it would be rude to ask outright. Like asking a Wizard about the composition of their wands. Her parents had raised her better than that. Her curiosity must have shown on her face though, for Hiyo broke out in laughter once again. Mikano got the impression the wolfish girl was letting her guard down around her and Arashi. She had seemed downright scary when she had approached the three Gryffindors in the hallway.

"Come on Ari, she's dying to know more about you. I get the feeling she's as bad as Mido when it comes to that. All incessant, understated curiosity." She stuck out her tongue. They had just entered the dungeons. Even Mikano could find her way from here by now. "Dreadful." But Hiyo did not sound dreadful; she sounded playful. Perhaps Mido and Hiyo had come to terms with each other since that Christmas two and a half year ago.

A smile ghosted over Arashi's thin lips.

"Another time. Let's just say my mice are my eyes when I need the overrated graces of sight." That only made Mikano _more_ curious. So Arashi could, what, use the nin-mice's eyes to see through? But if she thought the ability to see was overrated how did she _then_ avoid bumping into tables and stuff? How did she _fight_?

" _Grimoire_ ," Hiyo said. The bit of wall which hid the entrance to the Slytherin common room melted away.

Mikano let go of a breath as she entered. The spacious common room with its large, lake-lit windows, the air warmed by the crackling fire in the fireplace, and brought alive by the murmurs of more than fifty Slytherins felt _safe_ after her encounter with the Gryffindors. Like having your back against a wall so no one could sneak up on you.

"Aren't those your friends?" Arashi pointed towards a particular couch group and Hiyo began striding towards it without waiting for Mikano to confirm.

Mikano followed bemused. They were right, it _was_ her friends. When they got closer, she could tell from the profile of Sasuke's raven, chicken-butt hair as he was bent over the table, quill in his hand.

He looked up when Hiyo approached, scanning both her and Arashi with inscrutable black eyes, until his gaze fell on Mikano. His eyebrows twitched.

"Hi," Cherry said from the couch perpendicular to Sasuke's, a puzzled frown on her unguarded face. Eren shifted beside her.

"Hello," Hiyo replied, her voice a little cold, guarded in a way it had not been a moment ago. "We just came to deliver your friend to you." She did not smile.

"Take care," Arashi said to Mikano, her voice serious but with an undercurrent of genuine warmth. All of a sudden, multiple things happened in quick succession.

Nuru, the white mouse, had scampered from her hiding place to the top of Arashi's head. Seeing it in full and not just its face, Mikano realized it was wearing a burgundy vest with some kind of emblem on the back.

As the mouse sat up on Arashi's head, Cherry shrieked, "A mouse!" pointing at Nuru.

Hiyo had just turned to Mikano, rolling her eyes and said in a voice as if they were sharing a private joke "Civilians," when something relatively large and black launched itself from the couch, right at Arashi's head.

The blind shinobi did not flinch. A cry - a belated warning - was making its way up Mikano's throat though it never reached her lips. It all happened so fast. One moment the flash of slick black fur and claws was heading straight for Arashi's face, the next it was flying through the air in the other direction. The cry became a strangled sound in Mikano's mouth.

The black cat, for Mikano realized that was what the flash had been, hit the couch cushions with a thump. In a second, it was on its paws again, back arched, fur standing on end.

"Dumb cat," Nuru growled, to the extent that a mouse can growl, tail still poised to strike.

Dash hissed and spat crossly as it climbed over the back of the couch and disappeared.

"It speaks!" Cherry exclaimed breathlessly. the same moment Sasuke opened his mouth and said:

"Sorry," he looked the mouse in the eyes, "that was my cat."

Nuru did not answer, instead vanishing down the collar of Arashi's shirt. Arashi sent Sasuke a small, reassuring smile and said dryly:

"No need to apologize. Nuru can fend for herself." Hiyo flicked her head and Arashi continued, "We'll be leaving. Goodnight."

"Bye," Hiyo said, already on her way.

"Bye - and thanks!" Mikano called after them. Hiyo gave her a thumbs up without turning.

"It spoke…" Cherry looked utterly awe-stricken as if she had just seen something straight out of Beedle the Bard's.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, his dark eyes fixed on Mikano. Mikano shook her head imperceptibly and returned his gaze with a look that meant 'I'll tell you later.'

She plopped down beside Cherry, making both her and Eren scuttle over to make room on the couch.

"Now, if you braid my hair as you promised, I'll tell you everything I know about nin-animals."

Cherry enthusiastically agreed, and Mikano thanked her lucky star something had happened to distract Cherry from the fact that Mikano had slipped away after dinner without a word - and from the way she had returned, accompanied by two unfamiliar, older shinobi.


	7. The Hospital Wing

Exactly three weeks after Mikano's first day at Hogwarts, she had her third run-in with the three older Gryffindors.

She was in the library, looking through books with titles such as _Essential Enchantments_ , _A Charm for every Occasion_ , and _Jinxes and Jibes: A Guide for Jesters_. After the double Theory class last Thursday, Orochimaru had finally deemed his Hufflepuff-Slytherin first-years ready for actual spell casting.

Mastering the Wand-Lighting Charm had not been very hard, especially with Cherry whispering tips beside her. Professor Flitwick had squeaked with joy and awarded Slytherin ten points when Cherry cast _Lumos_ and then _Nox_ , the Wand-Extinguishing Charm, on her first tries. Ten minutes later, Sasuke too managed to cast _Lumos_ , earning Slytherin another five points. Motivated by his annoyingly smug smirk, Mikano repeated his feat before class was over though Sasuke by then was lightning and extinguishing his wand effortlessly. Mikano was still trying to turn her wand off as they shuffled towards the History of Magic classroom for another dose of Goblin rebellions.

Mikano pursed her lips. Still, she had been one of the only people to light up their wand at all in that first class. Comparing oneself to Sasuke, cursed little prodigy, was not a good way to measure objective success. She tapped the dried out tip of her quill against the parchment in front of her. But what did she care about _objective_ success? She would just have to work harder to keep up with her friend. She might not have her brother's foolhardy perseverance but she was still an Uzumaki.

Uzumaki worked hard. Uzumaki did not give up.

Mikano smiled to herself. What a Naruto thing to think. Her energetic twin who had to struggle through anything and everything academic, who screwed up his face over the simplest math but who nonetheless _kept going_ no matter how hard Mikano knew it got for him. He wanted to become Hokage he said. Like their Dad. Mikano was pretty sure he did not actually know just how little action and how much paperwork that job entailed. She did. When she was allowed to, she had liked to do the Academy homework in her Dad's office in the great Hokage Tower in the middle of Konoha. There she observed an endless stream of documents making it to her father's desk: petitions, agreements, things to be read through and signed. As far as she was concerned, being Hokage was more than anything else a dreadful desk job. Naruto would wither away from boredom within a week.

Still, seeing how much dedication and tireless effort Naruto put into his dream which, in his own words, was to 'become the strongest shinobi in the world ever and protect Konoha' was inspiring. In some ways, she looked up to her dunce of a brother. Yes, he was an obnoxious loudmouth, an idiot, and a prankster who rarely considered the consequences of his actions, but he was also hard-working and kind. He believed in the best in other people and he believed in himself. How could you not admire that when you saw it every day?

Mikano blinked, becoming aware she had been drifting off again. She dug her wand from her robe pocket. After the incident two and a half week ago with Hannibal and his trip jinx, she made sure to always carry it with her. Not that she had much use of it yet but she could still…

Concentrating deeply, she flicked her wand and whispered, " _Tempus. Tempus. Tempus._ "

On the third attempt the charm succeeded and four digits flickered in the air before her. Almost time for dinner. She had better get going.

Mikano looked down at the parchment in front of her. So far twenty-three spells neatly numbered. One and two, _Tempus_ and _Scourgify_ , had already flicked check marks next to them. Three, _Finite Incantatem_ , had a half. She was compiling a list of useful, easy spells to practice outside of class. The first-year Spells curriculum was rather broad and there was only so many class hours. She was going to get as much out of her magic as possible. Also, researching which spells to learn first was fun; though it was annoying that she could not just learn all of them right now. No, she had to prioritize.

Obvious everyday use gave points in her prioritizations system as did easy-to-master and broad applicability. _Finite Incantatem_ was tricky and Mikano knew it would not be on the curriculum before her second year but after reading about it in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ , _not_ learning it now had seemed like tempting fate. A spell that reversed most minor jinxes, hexes and curses? Yes, thank you.

Mikano stacked the books spread out on the table and rolled up her parchment before stuffing it in her backpack with the quill and inkpot. She took care to put the books back exactly where she had found them in the intricate shelf system which she, in her own opinion, had gotten considerably better at navigating these last few weeks.

Knowing she was going to be very late for dinner, Mikano hurried out of the library.

She should have been more careful. More cautious. She had been wary ever since what had happened with Hannibal and his companions but after more than two weeks without incident, she had begun to relax. Stupid.

She was hurrying down the hallway leading to the great marble staircase of the Entrance Hall when her path was blocked by three towering figures. Mikano almost collided with one of their chests, so abruptly had they appeared.

"Bah!" Hannibal said, raising his arms. Mikano jumped back.

The blond girl giggled. "Nice one, Hanni-hon."

Mikano gritted her teeth, frantically surveying their surroundings. The hallway was long and relatively narrow. The only time it branched off was with the side corridor the three Gryffindors had sprung forth from. Sneaky bastards. All the portraits were asleep and Mikano could find no use of the mighty armours standing along the wall. On the one hand, she would be easy game for a Tripping Jinx like the one she had been hit with before if she turned around and ran back the way she had come. On the other hand… Behind the Gryffindors hovering like wraiths, there was only a few metres to the grand staircase. The marble stairs became a plateau before twisting ninety degrees to the Entrance Hall's floor. Surely they would not dare to hex her so close to a full Great Hall?

"Thank you, Emma," Hannibal said languidly, taking a step forward.

Mikano seized her chance and sprang forward. She weaved under Hannibal's hands, around Emma, who shrieked, and darted towards the staircase behind them. She made it two steps down the marble before a hoarse voice she had not heard before growled behind her:

" _Locomotor Mortis_!"

Mikano felt her legs snap together involuntarily. Being in the middle of a step as she was, she completely lost her balance and tipped forward while her momentum threw her headfirst down the stairs. Her arms flailed uselessly in the air before she curled them around her head instinctively. Shattering pain shot through her knees as they connected with the stairs and she cried out, her shoulder getting crunched underneath her. She rolled and tumbled the last steps down to the staircase plateau, her legs still as if glued together. The back of her head banged on the floor, all air being driven out of her lungs with the impact. The world blacked out. She dimly registered voices above and far far away.

"Nice one, Owen," somebody snickered meanly.

"Shit, guys, let's go…" Apprehension in that voice... Hannibal?

Her arms had gone limp and fallen from her face. A coppery taste filled her mouth. Her lungs fought to inflate but her ribs were aching. Dapping footsteps approached from below. Mikano's eyes swam, light flares and dark patches flittering over her vision.

"…kano! Mikano!" Something pink and grey hovered above her face. She could make out two large dark circles. She tried to raise her hand, to reach for the loops. She felt pressure on each side of her head, something pressing against her temples.

Her mind and vision cleared somewhat. Enough for Mikano to recognize Kabuto's hard-set face hovering over hers and comprehend it was his fingertips on her temples doing something to make her mind clearer. The loud pain in her knees and shoulder was excruciating.

"Mikano, can you hear me? Are you with me?" His mouth moved and Mikano realized he was speaking… to her?

Another wave of clarity swept over her with the agony. She blinked.

'I am,' she tried to say but her words were slurred by something thick and slimy slouching in her mouth. She hefted herself to the side and coughed and spit, blood and saliva dripping to the polished white floor. Kabuto held her hair and lowered her back into a supine position when she was done.

"I am," she repeated weakly.

"Mikano, what happened?" While he spoke and waited for her answer, he swept his hands over her body. She felt the tickle of magic on her skin. Was he healing her? Her shoulder suddenly clicked and she lost her breath in the flash of searing pain. She heard him mumble something as he tapped her awkwardly locked legs with what she assumed was a wand and they fell apart. Her knees were on fire but Kabuto's cool hand soothed the pain away.

Her thoughts were becoming less foggy. She realized she must have been hit by a curse or hex that glued her legs together making her fall down the stairs. Should she tell Kabuto? What would happen if she did? What if she did _not_?

"Mikano." Mikano tried to raise her head. A sharp pain shot through her neck and the world blacked out. She gasped.

"Mikano," Kabuto repeated. "I need to get you to the Hospital Wing. You have a moderate concussion at best and your body is battered. I can heal the latter but you need professional care for the former." His black eyes looked firmly into hers. "Do you understand?"

"Yes…" she mumbled, head lolling to the side. She inhaled sharply as Kabuto wriggled her schoolbag out from under her and off her arms. She saw him sling it over his own back before carefully digging his arms under her limp body.

He picked her up and strode up the marble stairs without jostling her, soothing magic radiating from his skin into hers. She nuzzled closer, her mind becoming clearer with every second.

"Weren't you on a mission?" she mumbled, half-lidded eyes on his face.

"I returned less than an hour ago." His eyes flitted down to hers.

Mikano accepted his answer with a tiny nod. Kabuto had been gone since Monday on a mission for Konoha. All Konoha shinobi, even those still completing their formal schooling, had to do that. The money earned from those missions was what kept Konoha running. Mikano was excited about the missions but you could only sign up to become an actual shinobi in your second Hogwarts year where you would be assigned a team and a Team Captain. Being born by shinobi parents weren't enough. There was a formal test to past, the Shinobi Aptitude Test. Kabuto probably went on a lot of mission. Skilled Medical-nins were in high demand for dangerous expeditions.

Kabuto used his elbow to push down the handle of a double door. They entered a long, high-ceilinged room, well-lit and clean, with numerous beds along the walls.

"Mrs Longbottom," he called out.

"One second!" someone called out from somewhere Mikano could not see. Kabuto lowered Mikano down on a hospital bed - Mikano realized the Hospital Wing must be where they were - and made sure her head rested comfortably on a pillow. The back of her head still throbbed with a dull, fuzzy pain that made her light-headed.

Kabuto had begun removing her robe when a neat little woman in white mediwizard robes hurried over. Most of her caramel brown curls were tucked in a bun though a few locks had fallen out, now tucked behind an ear. Her brown eyes were warm and kind but her eyebrows became drawn in worry when she looked down at Mikano.

"What happened?" she asked Kabuto, tone serious but with an undertone of familiarity that indicated they knew each other well. However, it was Mikano who hurried to answer.

"I fell down the stairs. Clumsy me."

She looked into Mrs Longbottom's warm eyes earnestly. She felt Kabuto's hands tugging at her robe halt for the briefest of second before resuming their work.

"I healed her superficial bruises," Kabuto told the mediwitch smoothly and, to Mikano's great relief, without commenting on Mikano's lie. He had to know it was a lie; after all, he was the one who had released her from the leg hex, "but I believe she has suffered a head injury, likely a moderate concussion, from the fall that requires more careful attention. No internal bleeding though her ribs are battered and her knees were bruised. Her shoulder was dislocated but I put it back in place."

Mrs Longbottom took all this information in stride, nodding as she drew her wand.

"Thank you for your assessment, Kabuto," she said before casting a flourish of spells that made the air crackle and sparks dance around them. The slender woman hummed disapprovingly.

"You better be more careful around the stairs, my girl. You really got yourself beat up this time. And we have to keep you overnight - at least - for the head." She flicked her wand and the lights and crackling went away. As did the woman herself, through a door in the other end of the room.

Kabuto smiled at Mikano as he folded her school robe and put it on the nightstand beside the bed. "Just diagnostic spells." He threw a blanket over her. "Anyway, I'm gonna go back to the Great Hall. I'll tell your friends where you are if I see them." He leaned closer as he tugged the blanket around her shoulders. "Also, I would like an explanation. If you are in trouble, there is no reason for you to deal with it alone. I will keep whatever you tell me confidential if you want me to. I'm no gossip." His onyx eyes behind the round glasses were earnest and grim.

Mikano searched those eyes and made a quick decision. He seemed friendly and dependable. Whether or not he would keep his word and keep quiet would be a test of loyalty. Until then, she would not automatically assume his trustworthiness though he had been nothing but likeable so far and it was worth noting he had not called her out on her lie to Mrs Longbottom. Yet.

"It was just a prank that went overboard. Petty bullies. Nothing I can't handle on my own."

"Who?"

"Gryffindors. Hannibal, Emma, and…" What had Emma called the last one? "Owen."

"Hannibal Hunter, Emma Hartstone, Owen Hatter. Fifth-year Gryffindors and notoriously hostile to everything and anyone shinobi. Mikano, don't think for a minute that you are the first or the only person who those cowards pick on." His voice was hard and pressing. "They always go after the youngest, those least likely to defend themselves." He sneered but Mikano knew it was not directed at her. "Being Slytherin only makes it worse in their eyes. Mikano, they have been harassing shinobi children since they started Hogwarts four years ago but they have never done anything like this. Nothing this violent. _This_ would make an impact, perhaps be enough to get them expelled. If you would only step forward."

Mikano's head spun with Kabuto's urgent words. What should she do? She had to think but she couldn't, her brain was muddy and her muscles ached. She shook her head, both to clear her thoughts and to tell Kabuto no, no, she would not step forward. She was not sure why something inside her opposed going to the authorities so strongly but she felt it jerking in her belly, pulling at her thoughts. She could handle this.

She heard voices and turned her head. Mrs Longbottom had re-entered through the door along with two other people, a little girl, perhaps five or six years old, and a young woman wearing clothes unmistakably shinobi under a travel cloak.

As Kabuto made to straighten up, Mikano whispered frantically: "Don't tell anybody! Anybody!" Kabuto nodded briefly.

"Professor Rin, Ms Alice."

"Kabuto!" the girl cried happily and ran forward to wrap her arms around Kabuto's middle. Kabuto smiled down at the girl, Alice, and patted the top of her brown curls.

"I was just leaving," Kabuto told the two adults and apologetically freed himself from Alice's embrace.

"As was I," Rin said with a smile before looking down on the person in the bed. "Mikano?" Surprise was evident in her voice.

"Hi Rin." Mikano tried to smile up at the third member of her Dad's old team. Rin Nohara, Kakashi Hatake, and Obito Uchiha had all stopped by from time to time throughout Mikano's childhood, but Rin least frequently, busy as she was between being a Medical-nin, working at the Konoha Hospital, and teaching Healing at Hogwarts, an elective class from year three.

Rin had plain brown hair to her shoulders and kind brown eyes. Her most eye-catching feature was a rectangular purple band on each cheek which made her appearance distinctively shinobi. At the moment, surprise and worry drew lines on her otherwise smooth forehead.

"Why are you here?" she asked Mikano.

"Fell down some stairs. I hit my head." Mikano attempted a convincing grimace. The worry lines disappeared from Rin's face.

"You always were a little clumsy, weren't you? Just like Obito used to be." Rin laughed. "Well, Kabuto, would you like to walk to the Entrance Hall with me? I suppose that's on your way as well?"

"Sure, Professor Rin. I actually have something I would like to ask you since our last class if you are not too tired to talk about Healing." He smiled and Rin returned it.

"I'm never too tired for my best student." She winked at Mikano. "Also, I told you there is no need to call me 'Professor' outside of class," she chastised Kabuto good-humouredly, and continued, addressing Mrs Longbottom, "See you tomorrow then, Laura. And get well soon, Mikano."

"I'll see to that, no worries." Mrs Longbottom pulled a couple of flacons from her robe and Mikano raised her arm weakly in farewell. Kabuto caught her eyes briefly before he waved goodbye to the girl, nodded to Mrs Longbottom, and followed Rin out of the Hospital Wing.

"Drink this," Mrs Longbottom said. Despite her kind eyes, her voice was firm. "It will help with the vertigo." The mediwitch supported Mikano's head as she tipped the little bottle against her lips. The lilac potion was tasteless, to Mikano's great relief. Not only was it itself tasteless, it actually seemed to _erase_ every other taste in Mikano's mouth but thankfully also the nausea tilting in her throat. A worthwhile exchange.

"Now, I am going to put you to sleep. While you sleep, I will do what I can for your concussion. Still, brains are the body's most delicate organ and it will have to do some of the healing itself at its own pace. You will likely experience light dizzy spells for about a week and you will be exempt from all physical classes the next fourteen days. If you are lucky, you will be out of bed before lunch tomorrow."

Mikano nodded weakly, her muscles sore, her head feeling bloated. Still, a little part of her could not help the thought that she would have rather gotten the concussion yesterday: Then she would at least not have had to go through the weekly round of torture called PE. As it was, she would just be missing Brooms tomorrow and she actually _liked_ that class.

"Drink." Mikano gulped down another potion, awkwardly because of her lying down. "You'll be asleep in a few minutes. I'll be back." Mrs Longbottom went away.

Mikano released a breath. They had believed her story about falling down the stairs. It helped that she did not exactly have a reputation for grace; she had always been better with her head than with her hands and feet, perfectly opposite Naruto. Though it would not be completely unbelievable that he too could have gotten himself flung down a flight of stair with all his reckless energy.

"You have really pretty hair."

Mikano blinked and turned her head to the voice, startled. She had completely forgotten about the little girl with the dark curls, Alice. Her eyes were large and brown as chocolate, her face round. She seemed to be on her knees, elbows planted on Mikano's mattress.

"Thank you," Mikano replied automatically.

"And those lines on your cheeks, they're just like a cat's whiskers!" The girl did an imitation of a cat, waving her small fists like paws, meowing. With displeasure, Mikano remembered the way Hannibal… Hannibal Hunter, had called her 'kitty'. Mikano could feel her thoughts grow fuzzier.

"Are you… Professor Longbottom's daughter?" Mikano spoke slowly and deliberately not to slur.

"Yep," the girl said. "Can I touch your hair? It's so red!"

"O… kay…" Those eyes. Like a puppy's. Large. Brown. Laughter.

When Mikano blinked, her eyelids refused to go up again. Her consciousness was slipping into darkness as she felt her hair shift a little. _She's petting me as if I really was I cat_ , was Mikano's last, amused, thought before sleep sucked her in.


	8. Deceit

When Mikano awoke, the light was so bright she had to clap a hand over her eyes the second she opened them. During the brief glimpse she had gotten of the Hospital Wing, she had, however, noticed the person slouching by her side.

"Morning Naru," she mumbled, squinting between her fingers.

Naruto bolted upright, his ocean blue eyes wide open. "Miki!" He rubbed his eyes and cheeks with both hands. "I tried to come yesterday but the mediwitch wouldn't let me because you had just fallen asleep, she said. I tried again after breakfast and she let me sit here but you were just sleeping so I guess I fell asleep too."

During Naruto's rant, Mikano had been rubbing the sleep from her own eyes, adjusting to the daylight penetrating the infirmary's white curtains.

"But Miki, what happened? They said you fell down some stairs and hit your head, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Mikano sighed, stalling an explanation by pulling herself into sitting position, rearranging the pillows behind her back. She had to make up a believable excuse. "I was trying to read and walk at the same time, but I was late for dinner - I had been at the library - so I was sort of hurrying without looking where I was going and so I stumbled down the marble staircase." She grimaced thinking of the resulting pain. Naruto apparently interpreted her grimace as one of embarrassment for he laughed jubilantly and threw himself over Mikano's lap.

"I told you books were going to get you killed!"

"Naphat."

"And you really always was clumsy, Miki."

"Funny, Aunt Rin said the exact same thing yesterday," Mikano said dryly. She dug her fingers into his spiky blond hair and tugged.

"Really? You met Aunt Rin? Here?"

"She works here, remember? Teaching Healing."

"Oh, right, I'd forgotten that. There're so many people to keep track of."

"Too many for your one and a half brain cells to keep track of, you mean." She tugged at his hair harder, and he indignantly shook her hand off as he sat up again.

"Hey, out of two of us, you're the one in a hospital bed for being an idiot."

"I don't think you really want to compete in having ended up in the hospital the least amount of times for doing something dumb, naphat."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her, pulling his cheek wide with his thumbs and index fingers.

"Right, that really does something for your good looks, you know."

"I'll leave if you're mean." Empty threat.

"Shouldn't you be in class anyway?"

Naruto pulled a hurt, puppy-eyed look. "Surely not when my dear sister is in a hospital bed needing her twin's support."

"You're totally not ditching classes to nap beside your 'dear sick sister's' bed."

"Totally not," Naruto concurred solemnly, disregarding Mikano's obvious sarcasm.

"Are you really in a position where you can do that though? I mean, how are classes going?" Her tone and the way she looked at him inquiringly let him know it was a genuine question and not a jibe.

"Alright, I suppose." He pulled at his earlobe then grinned. "The plants in the greenhouses are pretty cool. And I got something to explode in Spells! Pauw! Like a firework. And I haven't gotten a T on any essay yet."

"Was the explosion supposed to be a _Lumos_?" Mikano asked carefully.

Naruto sent her one of those glances that reminded her that her twin actually wasn't as daft as he appeared to be most of the time. "I know what you are asking. And no, I haven't gotten the hang of moulding yet. I've always been pants at meditation, you know that."

"Naruto, you'll never be able to do spells properly without learning to mould…"

"Have you forgotten who I am? I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I can do anything!" And there was the air-headed braggart Mikano knew and loved. "Just because it's hard doesn't mean I won't do it! I'll learn to mould better than anybody and become the greatest shinobi in the world. You better believe it!"

Mikano smiled teasingly at her twin though she felt the weight of his determination inside. "I do believe it. No need to yell."

Naruto, who had puffed out his chest, caught up in his own determination, deflated visibly and said sheepishly, rubbing his neck: "Ah sorry Miki, I suppose I shouldn't yell when you're in the hospital."

"Ha, I've long since given up on making you stop yelling, loudy." She considered something for a moment. "Also, if you continue having troubles with moulding, you can ask Kabuto Yakushi to help with locating your magic. He got a friend of mine out of a fix."

"Kabuto who?"

"Seventh year Slytherin. Grey hair, round glasses?"

"Oh! The four-eye who told me you were up here!"

"Don't use that word. It's insulting."

"You don't mind when I call our PE professor Bushy-Brows."

Mikano's mouth twitched. "No, but that's because Kabuto is very nice and Professor Maito's hobby is making me suffer."

"It doesn't matter anyway. It's not that I can't find my magic, not really. It's that I can't control it, it's just whooshing and swooshing inside me." Naruto wheeled his arms over his head with fervour.

Mikano thought that sounded strange. Her magic definitely was not 'whooshing and swooshing.' It was flowing, steadily, evenly, in a peaceful yet powerful way through her limbs. Mikano was about to ask for a more thorough explanation when Naruto quickly asked:

"Does it hurt? Your head?"

Perhaps he didn't really want to talk about it…

Mikano decided to let it rest for now and instead took a moment to really check, to assess the state of her body. She felt perfectly fine. No aches anywhere, no soreness, not even in her knees or shoulder. Magic was truly a blessing.

"Nope, nothing. Also, Mrs Longbottom said I could leave before lunch."

"You sure? Shouldn't we…" Naruto looked around the empty Hospital Wing conspicuously mediwitch-free.

"No, she said it was fine, let's just go now," Mikano said hurriedly. While despising physical exertion, she decidedly was not one for lying idle either, not like Shikamaru, the lazy-butt, and she was afraid Mrs Longbottom would sentence her to slow death by boredom in bed if she didn't get out of here fast. "What time is it?"

Naruto squinted at the sun through the curtains while Mikano pulled back the sheet and prepared to get up. "Almost time for Brooms, I think."

"Perfect! Ugh." As Mikano swung her legs over the side of the bed, a wave of nausea swept over her, making her sway. Naruto grabbed her shoulder steadying her.

"You okay, sis?"

"Yeah…" Mikano stared at the floor, willing the world to stop spinning. It did. Mostly. "Just hand me my robe, please?"

She heard the rustling of fabric then felt Naruto drape the robe around her shoulders.

"Are you sure we shouldn't call the mediwitch?"

"I'm fine." Mikano threaded her arms through the robe sleeves. "Just give me a hand."

Naruto wiggled an arm around her waist, supporting her as she stood up. She clutched the back of his robe. While she had felt completely normal lying in bed, standing up had reminded her of the concussion she had acquired yesterday. Too bad magical healing only got you so far. What had Mrs Longbottom said? A week of dizzy spells? Urg.

"Let's go to Brooms, I want to watch."

"Want me to carry you?"

" _No_."

Sasuke's day went from shitty to shittier to the shittiest he had had in months. It began with Spells where the other Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were practising turning matches into needles. Easy, Sasuke had mastered that transfiguration days ago, and Professor Flitwick had allowed Sasuke to move on to beetles. But he could. Not. Concentrate. Thoughts of Mikano kept flitting through his mind.

As Sasuke, Cherry, and Eren had made their way out of the Great Hall after dinner yesterday, Kabuto Yakushi, the seventh-year who sometimes hung out with them, had intercepted them. On their way to the Slytherin common room, he had told them, in a low, toneless voice, that Mikano had fallen down a flight of stairs and was currently in the Hospital Wing with a concussion. Sasuke had been about to turn on his heel and march right back the way they had come when Kabuto had put a light hand on his shoulder. In a friendly tone, he had explained that Mikano would be asleep by now and that Mrs Longbottom, the mediwitch, would be unlikely to let him in.

As soon as they were through the portal to the common room, Kabuto had disappeared, leaving Sasuke with an armful of upset Cherry and a nagging feeling that the man had not told them the full story.

This feeling would not leave him and was currently keeping him from focusing in Spells. He also wondered how Mikano, still in the Hospital Wing, was doing. Was she badly hurt? Was she just resting? He hadn't had the chance to check for himself yet and so had no way to quell his questions. And there was something fishy about the whole situation.

Having an accident on a staircase was not impossible, especially not at Hogwarts where trick steps were common and the stairs like to rearrange themselves at random. That it would happen to Mikano might at first glance also seem rather plausible. While her hand-eye coordination was decent - Sasuke would know, having practised hurling kunai and throwing stars at targets with her on countless occasions - she wasn't very _aware_ of her body. Sasuke paid attention to his friend. The way she moved her hands was deliberate, careful, but it seemed she regarded the rest of her body as simply a vessel for her brain. She would knock things over with her elbows or bang her hip on low tables. She got bruised regularly from her small accidents but she had never gotten hurt in any way that mattered. Not like yesterday. Not like this.

Hence, Sasuke walked out of the Spells classroom in a rather foul mood, having neither slaked his unvoiced suspicions nor made any headway whatsoever in turning the darn beetle into a button, both to his annoyed chagrin.

His next class, History of Magic was not any better. Professor Bellowicz had chosen today of all days to assign a _group assignment_ , and before Sasuke had had a chance to partner up with Eren, Cherry, or Shikamaru for the First's sake, Ino Yamanaka had latched onto his arm. The blond girl with the ridiculously long hair had batted her eyelashes unabashedly and spent the next hour asking him personal questions he did not care to answer and blushing inanely. Horror. The only redeeming quality about his 'groupies' as Mikano called them was how worked up they got said red-head. But even that amusement could not make up for how devastatingly annoying they were. Alas, that was the burden of being flawless. How he wished Mikano had been there to take him down a notch had she heard that thought.

Then, after more than three hours of worry and irritability, Sasuke finally laid eyes on Mikano. He was in the air, making rounds on one of the school's primordial brooms when he spotted Mikano's flash of red hair. She was all but hanging from her twin's arm, her face bent towards the ground.

Naruto wasn't wearing his hat either. Sasuke hardly remembered seeing the dope with it on even once. He supposed the professors had simply resigned to faith and stopped dress-coding him. It was a bloody shame a sloppy excuse like "sorry Professor, I forgot!" only worked if you did not have a reputation for perfect orderliness. An Uchiha didn't _forget_. Except for Obito perhaps. Merlin knew how that man always managed to be late for classes that happened at the _exact_ same time _every_ week.

This string of thoughts darted through Sasuke's mind as he dove towards the two figures coming from the castle. He dismounted the broom almost before his feet hit the grass and hefted Mikano's other arm, the one that wasn't wrapped around Naruto, over his own shoulder.

"You alright?"

"Just a little dizzy." Mikano's voice sounded strained.

"Hm."

"Hello to you too, jerk." Naruto, Mikano's obnoxious twin brother, said loudly. It was strange how two people could be so different yet so similar. Sasuke did not answer.

They half carried, half walked Mikano to a bench nearby where Madam Hooch was overseeing the students in the air.

"I'll go find a broom," said Naruto cheerfully, slung off two bags, Mikano and his own, Sasuke guessed, and ran off. That left Sasuke and Mikano out of earshot of everyone and Sasuke seized the chance to ask the question that had been on his mind all morning.

"What happened?"

"I was reading and walking and not looking where I was going so I fell down some stairs and got a concussion." The way Mikano shifted and looked him steadily in the eyes instantly convinced Sasuke she was lying. He stared dead back, steeling himself against the dark-grey orbs.

"That's not true," he told her, expressionless.

"Sure it is! Why else would I have spent the night in the Hospital Wing or be walking like a drunkard?"

"Don't be dumb on purpose. It's bad enough with those who can't help it."

She bristled, eyes narrowing. "Did Kabuto say something?"

Sasuke blinked calmly, wondering what Kabuto had to do with anything and storing Mikano's reaction for later perusal. "No. He only said you fell down a flight of stairs, indicating it was self-inflicted."

He could see Mikano's mind work behind her eyes, parts moving. "And that is exactly what happened," she told him definitively. He was about to angrily retort when Naruto, the dope, swung down beside him on a broom, a second stick in his hand.

"What are you standing there for, jerk? I challenge you to a race on broomsticks!" Naruto yelled in his typical boorish, uncouth fashion.

"Mr Uchiha, I want you on a broom in five seconds or I'll give you detention! This is a class for flying, not chatting!"

Sasuke knew Madam Hooch was a witch who meant business so he snatched the spare broom out of Naruto's hand and sent Mikano a glare. This wasn't over.

Mikano groaned inwardly. Sasuke was in a downright horrid mood when they sat down for lunch. He looked at his pasta like he wished the ravioli would scream when he stabbed them with his fork bringing them up to a mouth whose jaw was working furiously. Sasuke rarely got angry but when he did, it was a little scary to watch.

He was always sulky on the rare occasions that Naruto actually _beat_ him at anything and Naruto for sure had just wiped the grass with Sasuke in that broom race (brooms was one of the only things Sasuke did not have a natural penchant for), but Mikano knew there was more to Sasuke's mood than petty moping.

She knew that he knew that she was lying. And he knew she knew he knew she was lying and _still_ would not spill which only made it worse. She was deliberately and obstinately keeping arguably important, if personal, information from him, her best friend. Yes, she knew perfectly well why he was mad.

"Mikano aren't you hungry? You haven't had anything for a day." Cherry began shovelling ravioli and spinach onto Mikano's plate.

"I'm not really hungry," Mikano tried. She didn't feel like eating and was a little worried her nausea would return.

"Fib. Maybe you don't know you're hungry but I promise you, you are."

Mikano took a lesson from Shikamaru and decided that simply obeying was less trouble than arguing. Especially when Cherry had decided to nurse Mikano back to health and fuss over her like a hen over a lone chicken.

The pasta actually wasn't too bad, having some kind of meat filling. Mikano carefully avoided Sasuke's eyes when she felt him glower at her through his dark lashes, instead striking up a conversation with Eren about the two classes she had missed this morning.

His initial difficulty in Magical Theory and Manipulation had proven not to be representative of his general abilities. While he wasn't a prodigy like Sasuke, he was clever in a shrewd, classic Slytherin way and quickly caught on to the theoretical aspects of magic even if he had a little trouble translating it into actual spells. He didn't talk much, and Mikano figured it was a mixture of him still being a little shy around the three of them and naturally being of few words.

While she listened to Eren, Mikano noticed the discrete glances Cherry cast between Mikano and Sasuke who were staunchly ignoring each other. She didn't say anything about it, however, until they were on their way to Societal Studies. Sasuke had gotten up from lunch ten minutes before the others and stalked out the Great Hall. After a kick to the shin by Cherry, Eren had followed him, looking monumentally uncomfortable. Mikano felt with him and hoped he was sensible enough not to ask to 'talk about it.' Sasuke would bite his head off. Cherry, however, was not to be deterred by grumpy, fierce looks.

"Why is Sasuke mad at you?" They were trotting up a flight of stairs which was bobbing ominously as if considering if it should move.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Mikano thanked the First she wasn't dizzy anymore. Perhaps food had not been such a bad idea after all.

"I don't like it when you fight."

"We're not fighting."

"I wish you were then because this is even worse!"

"Sasuke thinks he is entitled to be privy to every aspect of my life but some things you have to deal with yourself."

"But I suppose that would make a friend feel like you didn't trust them very much." Cherry's voice was carefully neutral. "And that you didn't think you could depend on them."

Mikano watched the stones in the hallway floor fixedly, knowing Cherry was not only speaking about Sasuke. "Sometimes you don't want to depend on other people. Sometimes you have to depend on yourself."

"I don't think it has to be either-or. Not when your friends really want to help you…"

"No." Mikano's tone made it clear she wasn't agreeing but shutting the conversation down. When they reached the open door to the Societal Studies classroom a few awkwardly quiet minutes later, Mikano halted.

"I think I'll sit with Shikamaru today," she said stiffly.

"Okay." Cherry bit her plumb lip, looking sad. "Okay, see you then."

Mikano quickly turned away from the table where Sasuke and Eren were already sitting. Shikamaru had chosen a table all the way back in a corner and Mikano hurried over.

Shikamaru was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest and head hanging slightly forward. When she got closer, she realized he was sleeping.

"Hi Shika." Mikano pulled the chair beside him out and sat down. Shikamaru opened his eyes but otherwise didn't steer.

"Hello." No inquiring about what had happened yesterday, no questions regarding why she was not sitting with her other friends as usual. This was why she loved Shikamaru.

"Your hair has grown," Mikano observed. Shikamaru made a noncommittal noise. "Cherry wouldn't mind cutting it if you asked her," she continued.

"Hair at Hogwarts is a drag no matter how you look at it," Shikamaru mumbled. Mikano fingered her own hair. She had been brushing tangles out of it with her fingers while watching her classmates zoom around in Brooms. "This hat, however," he pulled the wide brim of his Hogwarts hat, a note of smirk in his voice, "isn't too bad though."

Mikano's eyebrows flew up. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly," he said mockingly. "See?" He placed an elbow on the desk in front of them and put his chin in his palm, angling his head down a little. "Perfect cover." His voice was a little muffled by his hand and Mikano laughed quietly.

"How droll. You've really perfected your art since the Academy." Sleeping in class had been a trademark of Shikamaru's since he had started the Academy at the age of six along with Mikano. But she had to admit this was a lot subtler than putting your forehead to the desktop and snoring away.

Shikamaru made another unintelligible sound just as Professor Civildock stepped into the classroom, energetically declaring:

"Today, we will learn about the magical Muggle device called _cell phones_! A little piece of metal and plastic which you can use to talk to people _on the other side of the planet_."

"I miss my mobile…" Mikano heard a Ravenclaw boy in front of her mumble gloomily. "And Super Mario…"

Mikano had absolutely no idea what the boy was talking about.

Obito was late. As per usual.

"So you don't feel sick?"

Mikano rolled her eyes. "No, Naru."

"You're not dizzy?"

"No."

"No funny-"

"Naruto Uzumaki, I. Feel. Fine!"

Naruto put his hands up. "Alright sis, I'm just checking."

"And now you have checked and can go back to your friends."

Naruto wiggled his butt forward in the seat, leaning back with his hands folded behind his head. "Nah, I think I'll keep you company. Why is the jerk so pissy anyway?"

He jerked his head towards Sasuke who was entertaining the Weasley fairy bint making her laugh prettily and toss her pearlescent hair. Mikano faked a strained grin.

"Some people simply can't stand losing."

Naruto's laugh was loud enough to make multiple people turn around in their chairs. "I totally trashed him! Ha-haha I am the _best_ at flying!" Mikano noticed Sasuke's back stiffen.

"Yeah, you always were better than him with brooms," Mikano said, perhaps a little louder than necessary. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cherry facepalm.

Naruto quieted down and searched her face with inquiring, cerulean eyes. "Seriously though, are you two okay?"

Mikano pointedly twisted her back towards Sasuke's table. "Don't worry about the whims of moody Uchiha's."

Naruto giggled. "Mr Moody Uchiha. Should I call him that from now on?"

"Why fix something that's not broken? 'Jerk' still fits so well."

Naruto hissed like something hot touching water and waved his hand making snapping noises. Mikano snorted, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. Her roasts had really gotten out of shape after she wasn't sleeping under the same roof as her twin anymore. Or well, she supposed she technically was, but she certainly didn't get to spend much time with him regardless.

After three weeks of barely talking to him, she hadn't even realized how much she missed his antics and silly humour.

"Sorry I'm late!" Obito barged through the door, hat askew. "Somebody's cat was drowning in the swamp patch down the hall and-"

"That's such a lame excuse!" Naruto cried as he jumped off his chair and pointed an accusing finger at their Defence professor. "You're always late! _You're_ lame!"

"Five points from Gryffindor for calling your professor _lame_!" Obito tugged his hat into place while striding towards the front of the classroom.

"Eeeeh?! But that's your own house!"

"Naruto, _sit down_." Mikano forcibly pulled him back in his seat. House rivalry aside, she didn't want to see her brother make an arse of himself.

"But he's my Head of House!" Naruto hissed indignantly to Mikano.

"Shhhh naphat! He can't show favouritism."

Naruto frowned at her. Oh. Right.

"He can't be nicer to his own house because that wouldn't be fair."

"But why is he always taking points from me though? He's our Uncle!"

"It wouldn't be fair either if he was more lenient with us just because we know each other privately. And you're always picking fights! It's your own fault!"

Obito, having finished transforming his desk into something that could have been a model of Hogwarts, cleared his throat emphatically.

"Just shut up and listen," Mikano whispered to Naruto, stabbing him in the ribs with her finger.

"Mikano?"

Mikano looked up from her textbook, startled. On the other side of the table, Hiyo was leaning her arms casually on the back of a chair. Guessing Hiyo's purpose, Mikano cast a quick glance on Cherry next to her whose quill had seized moving.

"Can I borrow you for a minute? Me and my team have just been notified we are going on a mission," Hiyo continued smoothly, "and Mido asked me to pass something on to you because she is busy getting ready in the Gryffindor Tower. Privately?"

"Sure." Mikano pushed out of her chair. "Mido's my cousin and Hiyo's teammate," she quickly explained to Cherry. Cherry's puzzled look turned satisfied and she nodded, returning to her essay.

Hiyo gestured for Mikano to follow her into an alcove where they would be somewhat sheltered by a heavy emerald curtain and out of earshot of anyone else in the common room. As they reached it, Hiyo said harshly, without preamble:

"It was the bastards, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Mikano confirmed quietly, realizing there was no point in trying to lie.

Hiyo nodded grimly, her jaw visibly tight, pale, pupilless eyes hard as they stared into middle-distance.

"You're not alone," she said abruptly, shifting her gaze to Mikano. "That is a lesson one can learn the hard way or the easy way. I learned the hard way. Mido, Takeo - my other teammate - and my Captain finally made me realize that it is alright to rely on other people. That you don't have to shoulder everything alone." She smiled wryly. Mikano stood stock still. "As Mido's friend, as a Slytherin, and as a fellow shinobi, I am offering you my help. I'm not offering to fight your battles for you; I am offering you support. I won't force you to accept it, but I want you to know you it's available - and I'm speaking on behalf of both myself and Ari."

Hiyo held Mikano's eyes for another moment as if to ensure her words had been received. Mikano felt uncomfortable and insecure, unsure of how to receive this offer of… 'support.'

"I thank you," she said stiffly. "I'll remember your words."

"Right," Hiyo almost snorted. "You Uzumaki are the stubbornest creatures on Earth. Not that I'm one to talk."

Mikano grinned, relieved at the change of topic. "Did you actually have a message from Mido?" she asked curiously.

Hiyo's nostrils flared. "No. That was just for your little civilian girl friend's sake. I could tell from the way the Uchiha boy was glaring daggers at the back of your head that you probably haven't confided in them." Mikano shifted uneasily. "The mission part was true enough though. I have to be at the Entrance Hall in," she cast a swift _Tempus_ \- Mikano hadn't even seen her draw her wand - "shit, ten minutes. I've gotta bolt."

Mikano began moving as Hiyo could not get past her otherwise, but Hiyo's hand clasped around her forearm before she could retreat from the alcove.

"And Mikano? One last thing… Don't push your friends away when you struggle. Tested and tried, doesn't work." She released her grip.

Mikano nodded, rather wanting the conversation to be over with. "Godspeed on your mission," she mumbled as she backed out of the alcove before turning towards where Cherry was sitting. She caught a glimpse of Sasuke staring openly, accusingly, challengingly at her, willing her to know that he knew that she knew that he knew…

If Hiyo replied, Mikano did not hear as she, chin high, marched towards the chair she had vacated only minutes before, looking neither left nor right.


	9. The Ways of Power

September became October as the leaves of the Hogwarts trees turned from summer green to the shades of fire, pure yellow, blazing orange, and deep red. It rained more often than not and the winds sweeping outside the Entrance Hall were forceful enough to make the tiny first-years stagger when they laboriously made their way down to the greenhouses.

While Madam Hooch turned practical classes into indoor theory ones when the weather bolted, Professor Maito declared that any weather was perfect weather and proceeded to make them run an obstacle course that ensured they all were muddier than soggy golems when the class ended. That was, except for the slim Gryffindor girl who had been blown into the Black Lake by a particularly vicious gust of wind mid-leap. Mikano suspected there was a connection between the severe cool the girl acquired on that account, a very grim-looking Headmistress McGonagall, and Professor Maito (rather deflated) informing them, at the beginning of their next PE lesson, that some weather was more perfect weather than other weather why they today (here he seemed to brighten) direct all their youthful energy towards stair tag. Mikano could barely walk the next day, so terribly did her everything-below-the-waist hurt.

After the 'incident' with the Leg-Locker Curse - Mikano had made sure to study every spell Hannibal and his gang had used on her as well as their counterspells (she would rather be caught dead than felled by the same hex twice!) - the Gryffindor Gang, as Mikano had come to think of them, had been quiet for a week. Mikano considered if perhaps her trip to the Hospital Wing was unintended and had spooked them. Then, as 1st October came around, they apparently could not hold back any longer.

To begin with, their attacks were subtle. A cut shoulder strap making the contents of Mikano's bag spill out on the floor; tripping jinxes that hit the people walking beside her as often as they hit herself; sneered remarks as they shouldered their way past her. But soon Cherry began to notice the presence of the same three people, though not always together, whenever Mikano had one of her ever-frequent 'accidents.'

Before long, the Gryffindor Gang was throwing more obvious jinxes her way. Her nails suddenly grew into long, curled up claws; her voice became shrill as a mountain monkey's; the hairs in her nostrils (disgustingly) grew themselves into neat curls covering her lips. At some point, her school hat all of a sudden tried to eat her head, convulsing as it gulped itself down over her eyes. Mikano had cried out without dignity and frantically struggled to pull it off. She succeeded only with Cherry's help: A foot on each of Mikano's shoulders, two hands pulling the brim up. When the hat finally and grudgingly released its hold on Mikano's head, it was with a great 'swoop' of suction. Cherry stamped on the hat furiously till it lay absolutely still - and perfectly ruined. What a great shame Mikano had not brought a spare and would have to wait for a new one to arrive from Diagon Alley. What a terrible shame.

The one good thing that came out of the Gryffindor Gang's renewed attacks (besides the ruined hat) was that Sasuke began talking to her again. For more than two weeks, Sasuke had not uttered one word to her face, while his dour scowls had been frequent and expressive. Though it had driven Cherry spare, Mikano haughtily refused to approach him first. She had not done anything wrong. She was entitled not to confide in him. Still, his silence gnawed at her and made her sullen and short-tempered. The sneaking question if her pride was really worth the loss of her best friend had brushed her mind more than once when the matter suddenly was taken out of her hands.

It was Monday morning and she was trotting up an empty staircase. She had given Cherry the slip after Spells, not being in a mood for her happy chittering. She had spent a while just outside the Hogwarts oak doors, leaning against the great stone wall, hidden and sheltered by the staircase leading up to the oak doors. Now, she was late for Societal Studies on the third floor, hurrying up the stairs while trying to come up with the fastest way to her classroom. Focusing her attention on not stumbling on the steps - she had plenty of unpleasant experience with the inhospitable, hard surfaces of the Hogwarts' stone staircases - and figuring out how not to be later than necessary, she barely had time to turn her head when she heard the swoosh of a spell behind her. As it hit her arm with a terrible sting, she heard a yelp from below. Involuntary tears of pain springing forth, Mikano watched in puzzlement as someone distinctly recognisable as Hannibal Hunter scrambled down another, lower staircase, arms battering at a flock of bright yellow birds which were circling around his head, diving and pecking at his exposed skin with pretty, feisty cries.

Sasuke appeared at the foot of Mikano's staircase, a grim smile on his lips. Their eyes locked. His eyes were black as midnight and completely expressionless. Mikano's were wet.

"Just because you are a terrible friend, doesn't mean I'll have to be too," he finally said. His voice did not betray any emotions but Mikano, knowing him as well as she did, knew exactly what he was telling her. And that was good enough.

She stumbled down the stairs and flung herself at him. He caught her in an embrace with a forced exhale as she made him stagger back half a step.

"Idiot," she mumbled into his shoulder, rubbing the Sting Hex-induced tears away on his robe. He didn't say anything, simply letting his arms rest delicately around her.

After a few moments, Mikano spoke again. "We should so definitely get to Societal Studies. Prof Civildock is nice but not _that_ nice." As soon as Mikano made the slightest shift to move away, Sasuke's withdrew his arms.

"Yes," he simply said. His eyes moved over her face quickly then landed on the slightly singed spot on her robe sleeve. "If you don't want to go to Mrs Longbottom, you can try to focus your unmoulded magic on the spot as Professor Orochimaru spoke of."

Mikano snorted, feeling strangely cheery. "No way I'll bother Mrs Longbottom with something like this. Plus, explaining how I got it would be awkward. Let's go, I can multitask." Calling upon her unmoulded magic effortlessly, she began walking up the stairs once again, consciously aware of Sasuke's presence right behind her.

Mikano halted in front of a wall tapestry depicting a dull-eyed, tea-drinking witch. That someone would have thought that motive worthy of a tapestry went over Mikano's head, but she wasn't there to admire the artistry. She furtively threw glances down both lengths of the corridor then slipped behind the heavy fabric.

After many hard and determined hours, she had found a number of secret passages leading into the library. This was one of the better ones because it did not lead anywhere busy nor to a part of the library in which she was not allowed to be.

She whispered a _Lumos_ and began walking down the dry tunnel. It was narrow and the floor was made of rough, sturdy wooden planks. The only trip step was right at the end - easy to remember. She liked the smell in here. It was discreet, a dormant notion of old wood and enclosed space.

She reached the other end of the tunnel and, leaning forward to avoid the trick step, peeked around the long, many-folded window drape which hid the entrance to the secret passage on this side. As usual, the section on troll lore was utterly deserted.

She slipped out, brushing lint off her the shoulders of her robe.

She supposed she did not have to sneak off alone like this. After all, she was only here to do some research for Theory homework and the Gryffindor Gang tended to hold back when she had company. But she had wanted to be alone, just her and some books.

And what books! They were studying the foundation of magic in Theory and professor Orochimaru had assigned an essay titled 'The Mechanics of Unmoulded Magic's flow through the Body'. Good stuff. And Mikano knew just where to start her hunt for sources.

She rounded a corner and walked right into somebody who was both very small and very surprised at being rammed from the side by a purposefully striding Mikano. They both yelped and scrambled not to fall over.

Mikano identified the other as Hinata's dark-skinned, curly-haired friend even as she was stumbling back. She had been on edge lately, never knowing when the next sudden blow would land.

The other girl caught herself on a shelf and laughed hushedly, her teeth pearly white against her plumb, chocolate-coloured lips.

"Sorry," she said, dark eyes twinkling.

Mikano quickly regained her composure. "No, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was walking."

"Never mind that… Hey! You're Naruto's sister, aren't you? Hinata told me!" The girl stuck out a hand with a wide grin. "I'm Cora McLauren."

"Mikano Uzumaki," Mikano replied, secretly amused at the way Hinata had introduced her to Cora. 'Naruto's sister', ha! The girl's crush on her brother was too cute.

"Oh!" The girl's eyes lit up as something apparently struck her. "You're here for Prof Orochimaru's essay too, yeah? Hinata and I were just getting started, wanna join?"

For a civilian, Cora certainly wasn't too hung up on Houses. Perhaps it was just the notorious Hufflepuff friendliness. Regardless, Mikano wasn't about to give up her anticipated hour of blessed loneliness. She was opening her mouth to voice her polite refusal when Cora sheepishly added:

"Truth is, I don't really get the whole 'magic as energy' thing and though Hina is really smart, she won't tell me when I write something that's complete nonsense because she's just too nice to say the truth: that I'm pants at Theory - the theory part anyways, I think I'm pretty good at the manipulation stuff, yeah?"

Mikano blinked. Was Cora asking for help? If so, she was doing it in a rather opaque, roundabout way.

"Cora? Cora?" Mikano recognised quiet Hinata's voice though it wasn't nearly as timid as usually. The girl emerged from somewhere behind Cora and gasped when she saw Mikano. "Hi-hi Mikano," she stammered, her voice all but a whisper.

"Hi Hinata," Mikano said softly. Hinata's beautiful lilac eyes remained cast down. Really. Hinata was the shyest person on Earth. Mikano wished she wasn't so fearful around her. "Where are you sitting?" Mikano said abruptly.

Cora's face lit up. "Just over there!" She turned and pointed. "My bag is on the table, it's really colourful, you won't miss it."

Mikano nodded. On her way to the table, she picked three books with promising titles off the shelves. Behind her, Hinata whispered something to Cora who giggled mischievously.

"Oh! So magic does not flow with the blood, yeah? It was just a comparison?"

"Yes," Mikano said patiently. "What professor Orochimaru meant was that - like your blood - unmoulded magic is moving through your body, out to every part of it. And it's not just lying there: like your blood, it is constantly circulating." Mikano pointed to the book lying open on the table. She moved her finger along the outline of the illustration of the human body on the page.

"And it always moves through here." Cora's voice was certain as she drew a swirl on the drawing's belly with her index finger.

"Exactly."

"I wish I could show you," Hinata said quietly.

"With the Byakugan?" Mikano inquired animatedly. The Byakugan was a blood limit magic of Hinata's clan, the Hyuga. Bloodlimits were something most of the notable Konoha clans had like the Nara who could command shadows and the Yamanaka who were skilled at mind magic. While Mikano wasn't privy to the details, she knew the Byakugan was a blood limit which allowed the wielder to see through solid objects when it was activated. She hadn't known it could also see magic though - if that was what Hinata had meant anyway.

"Yes." Hinata fiddled with her robe sleeve, looking down. "I can see-see the magic's flow inside p-people when I'm using it. It's very pretty." She blushed as if afraid she had said too much.

"That sounds amazing!" Cora sighed wistfully. "You shinobi have such awesome magics. And I can't even learn them, can I?" She peeked at Mikano hopefully.

"I'm sorry." Bloodlimits were after all called blood limitsfor a reason. They something you were either born or not, completely determined by your magical inheritance.

"No matter!" Cora tossed her short, black curls and grinned. "I have so much to do just with classes I wouldn't have the time anyway!" Mikano smiled. Cora was such a sun-bright person. "Talking about classes: Mikano you are a blessing. Thank you so much for this, I would have been so lost without you… Now I think I know just what to put in the essay!"

"You're welcome." It had taken well over an hour to patch up the holes in Cora's understanding of the way unmoulded magic moved inside the body, but the trouble with the kind of technical, theoretical classes they were doing in Theory right now was that if you did not understand the basics then everything built on top of that would be lost on you too. And while Cora perhaps wasn't the brightest of the bright, her sunshine personality made her pleasant company regardless. Mikano did not regret accepting Cora's invitation though she consequently had made zero progress on her own essay. Or perhaps she had… There was no better way of internalizing knowledge than to teach it to somebody else. And Hinata didn't jump every time Mikano addressed her anymore. Yey, progress.

"And you don't mind at all that you've been learning from a Snake?" Mikano said jestingly.

"What do you mean?" Cora looked at her with startled, puzzled eyes.

"I just mean I'm a Slytherin - and you're a Hufflepuff," Mikano explained quickly, "and I had the impression inter-house mingling was sorta frowned upon among civilians. Not to generalize," she added conscientiously.

"Oh, right, that's true. It's total bollocks!" Cora asserted vehemently. "Why shouldn't we be friends with Shikamaru when he basically lives in our common room? It's so stupid, we should all just be nice to each other - or at least not be not nice to people just because of something silly like _House_. Or _skin colour_. Or blood status. Or being civilian or shinobi."

Mikano was slightly taken aback by Cora's outburst. She glanced around surreptitiously, sure the librarian Madam Pinch would come charging at any moment with severe admonitions at their noise level.

"You should have seen how they treated Hinata just because of her eyes!" Cora continued, obviously upset. "They wouldn't talk to her, they were so mean!" Mikano could see why civilians would be alarmed by Hinata's large, pupilless orbs, but honestly. Being afraid of Hinata? What an absurd thought.

"Prejudice prevails even among those characterised by their inclusiveness."

Mikano's head snapped around at the voice. It was deep, male, and soft, carrying the solemn words with a resigned sadness. It was Itachi's tall, broad-shouldered, tousled-haired Uchiha friend with the wide nose and the long eyelashes.

"Shisui! Hi!" Cora's expression went from passionately indignant to delightedly surprised.

"Good evening, Shisui," Hinata said timidly.

Mikano regarded the boy. Or man. Young man. He ought to be a seventh-year; he certainly looked the part in any case. So Shisui was his name. Shisui Uchiha.

"I'm Mikano Uzumaki," Mikano said as Shisui came closer.

"I'm Shisui Uchiha. Pleased to meet you." He sent her an earnest smile before turning his eyes upon all three of them. "It is truly sad how prejudice pervades even this place meant for unity. That it extends to the rest of society is even more regretful. Fortunately, not all fall under its ill charms." He reached out and tousled Cora's dark curls. She giggled and he grinned.

"We must all be on the lookout for bias and prejudice in ourselves and others. And stand up to those who proudly practice it." At this, it seemed to Mikano Shisui looked straight into her eyes. She frowned inside. Was he trying to communicate something to her about the Gryffindor Gang? Did _everybody_ know about her trouble with those stupid schoolyard bullies? "And yet. Those with more power will always pick on those with less. The weak will in turn become embittered and seek revenge. Even a small blade can kill a great man. Fear and prejudice only fuel that cycle of oppression."

"Shisui, you're so deep," Cora complained, her lips pursed. "Mikano has been teaching me stuff all evening and my brain can't understand anymore now!" She grabbed the two longest fingers on one of his hands like a baby and pulled lightly.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." Shisui laughed easily and quietly. "I was about to head back to our common room. If your head is really as bursting full as you claim, would you like to accompany me then?"

"'S'that alright?" Cora asked Mikano and Hinata.

"Sure," Mikano said.

"I think I'll just go-go with you," Hinata stammered a little anxiously.

"Nooooo…" Cora waved at her. "Stay here with Mikano. I'm sure you two smart-brains are gonna get much more out of each other than me." She winked at them, hefted her (truly colourful) bag over her shoulder, and pulled Shisui away with her by the sleeve.

As far as Mikano could tell, Hinata was low-key panicking.

"I'll use this book first," she said casually, drawing a shiny-covered tome towards herself. Hinata gasped.

"Ri-right."

Silence fell over the table as each began drafting their essays. After a while, Mikano felt the tension leave Hinata's posture and she chanced a look at the girl.

Hinata's face was relaxed, her slim bangs falling forward on each of cheek before brushing their tips on her chin. Her eyes were on the parchment before her with mild but focused attention. Her hand traced the letters of her essay with the inked quill tip in a gentle, careful manner. Her script was neat and the shape of her letters somehow _soft_.

Mikano returned her attention to her own essay, a surreptitious smile playing on her lips.

No, this evening wasn't so bad at all.


	10. The Curse Called Group Assignments

Mikano could not figure out when and how she had managed to so thoroughly offend Professor Drizzle that it warranted this sort of punishment. Certainly, no teacher with only the best intentions would pair her up with _Lestrange_ for a _week-long_ project like the one Professor Drizzle had just assigned.

Today was Thursday and they would have until next Friday to brew the fever-reducing Pyretipoof Potion and write a one-foot-long report on it. In pairs. Pairs assigned by the teacher. The only option was death.

To finish the potion by next Friday, they had to mix the base today so it could simmer by itself until their class Monday. When Lestrange showed no sign of getting up to fetch the potion ingredients, Mikano got up with a disgusted huff and went to retrieve them herself.

Lestrange showed no recognition of the fact that Mikano existed, even as the latter slammed a jar of pulverized beaver teeth down in front of her. Mikano dropped a bundle of slimy seaweed on Lestrange's cutting board.

"Mince this seaweed. If you don't want to just be a deadweight, that is."

"Don't order me around," Lestrange hissed with venom. She grabbed a brass knife and began chopping at the seaweed.

"Brass is actually bad for the properties of seaweed," Mikano began. The recipe on the board specified the use of a steel knife to cut the seaweed and a note on page 345 of _Magical Draft and Potions_ which also had the recipe explained how certain metals drew the magic from the sensitive seaweed. "You should use-"

"Keep your snotty shinobi-snout out of my business!" Mikano stiffened as Lestrange pointed her brass knife at her.

"Actually, the way you mistreat _our_ ingredients _is_ my business," Mikano replied archly, seething inside, "as they will go in _our_ potion."

"There is no 'our'," Lestrange sneered, glaring up into Mikano's eyes, "only a stupid school project and a stupid tomato who won't keep her ugly nose to herself."

Mikano paled with anger. Her wand was in her hand before she knew what she was doing, but the hex never left her lips as a piercing scream and an angry sizzling made her jump and drop her wand on the floor. Her eyes snapped to the source of the noise while the class went quiet and Professor Drizzle shouted a word, a spell.

Ino, the Ravenclaw, was sobbing, clutching at the charred remains of her once waist-long, blond ponytail. "My hair, my hair," she whimpered.

"Oh, you silly girl, it's just hair!" Professor Drizzle chided as she vanished the content of the cauldron with a swish of her wand. "You're lucky you only dipped it in a seaweed base and not a Boil Cure Concoction! Then you would be missing a whole lot more than a few inches of hair! It was only a matter of time with that loose ponytail - five points from Ravenclaw for not observing basic safety regulations in the classroom!" The witch looked pointedly at the rest of the class. "Let that be a lesson for all of you."

Mikano furtively checked that the two braids Cherry had made of her hair during breakfast were still secured in a bun at the base of her neck. She cast a last glance at Ino, noticing Sasuke standing stone-faced beside her. Oh, that's right. She wasn't the only one who had had rotten luck in the partner department today.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are you actually going to be of any use?" Lestrange asked in an infuriatingly disdainful voice. Mikano took a deep breath and picked up her wand from where she had dropped it on the floor.

_Don't hex her, don't hex her, don't hex her_ , she chanted to herself. She stowed her wand away at the bottom of her backpack to not tempt fate.

"Where are we?" she asked, forcing her voice to be civil.

Lestrange scowled at her as she steered the cauldron which was now half-filled with greenish-grey liquid. "Crush those dandelion roots," she commanded.

Mikano bit her tongue and picked up the first withered root.

"Of all insipid, incompetent…"

"At least your partner isn't provocation on legs!"

"My _partner_ dipped her ponytail in our cauldron so we had to start all over! And all the seaweed left in the storage cabinets by then was mouldy!"

"Lestrange would probably do that on purpose just to make me mad."

"Guys," Cherry broke in exasperatedly, "what you need is a big, nice cup of tea and some cat therapy! Don't get all upset, it's just a school project."

Sasuke and Mikano exchanged a look.

"If Dash is otherwise useless, at least he's good for purring when you pet him," Eren added sensibly.

"Watch whose pet you're calling useless," Sasuke grumbled.

"Ha!" Mikano exclaimed. "You're the one who complains about that lazy furball the most!"

"That's not the same as giving everybody else permission to insult him too."

"You're just mad because your cat is dumb as a door and can't even walk straight!"

"You! Your owl is so addicted to sugar it would fly right into the jaws of a bear if you put an owl treat on the tongue!"

Cherry and Eren silently high-fived behind Sasuke and Mikano who were marching down the dungeon hallway bickering. Cherry was both happy and relieved those two were talking - and bickering - again. It had been so strained and awkward while they were angry at each other, and Mikano, even if she would not admit it, had been genuinely depressed. Cherry could tell.

Cherry just wished Mikano would rely on them enough to trust them with the (quite obvious) fact that her fall down the stairs and the concussion that had sent her to the Hospital Wing was somehow the fault of those nasty fifth-year Gryffindors. But she couldn't force Mikano to confess that; only hope she one day changed her mind.

No day becomes a good day by starting out with a faceful of Pimple Jinx before breakfast. The Gryffindors had been getting more audacious lately, hexing Mikano surreptitiously in public with a spell that nonetheless made it obvious that Mikano had been hexed. After all, your skin doesn't suddenly erupt into boils and blisters on its own accord.

Mikano moaned and felt the skin swell under her palm as she pressed her hands to her face.

Sasuke made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl as he and Eren each grabbed one of Mikano's elbows and half led, half dragged her back through the doorway leading from the Entrance Hall to the dungeons. They pulled her down the stairs and sat her down on the cold stone floor of a deserted corridor.

Her skin _stung_.

"Curse those _gits_!" Cherry swore vehemently.

"I think there is some Boil-Cure Potion in Professor Drizzle's classroom," Sasuke stated tersely. Though his voice was tightly controlled, Mikano could tell he was livid. "I'll go get it."

"That won't be necessary."

Mikano removed her hands from her swollen eyes, the right almost forced closed by a boil on her eyelid. Blurrily, she saw the outline of Kabuto who she had recognised by the voice.

Kabuto. He hadn't spilt, of that, she was almost certain. If he had told her friends, surely Sasuke would not have been acting as he had, and had he told a teacher, there was no way they would not have intercepted with the Gryffindor Gang's continued harassment. Kabuto had kept his promise.

"I'll heal it. That is the fastest way," he continued, coming closer. He crouched in front of Mikano. "May I?"

Mikano removed her hands and turned her face up. Cherry gasped.

Mikano closed her eyes automatically as Kabuto's faintly glowing hand hovered just above her skin. She felt the hurt ease and the swellings deflate. In a matter of seconds, the Pimple Jinx had been undone.

"If we hurry, we can still get some breakfast," Sasuke noted casually. Mikano opened her eyes and scowled at him as she got to her feet, helped by Kabuto's hand. Sasuke returned her glare challengingly.

_Alright_ , she thought archly. If they were pretending Mikano wasn't being targeted by three mean fifth-years, Sasuke wasn't going to make it easy for her.

"Right," she said, fake-cheerfully. "Thank you, Kabuto." She looked up into his onyx eyes earnestly. He smiled, an ironic twist to the corner of his mouth.

"Any time."

In Spells, the Slytherin and Hufflepuff first-years were practising the Levitation Charm by making old, broken quills float in the air. Mikano was grudgingly levitating her quill, inkpot, and other small, available object. Beside her, Sasuke was reading a book on Charms theory which he had been given by Professor Flitwick after he, rather too smugly in Mikano's opinion, had hovered a whole stack of textbooks in the air to their tiny, old professor's delight. Show-off. Mikano couldn't exactly be faulted for having been too occupied learning actually practical spells or watching her own back wherever she went to have studied ahead.

Her mood did not improve during History where they were still on the topic of Goblin rebellions as they had been for the two last months. It wasn't that the Rebellions were not interesting. It was thought-provoking how often the wandless creatures had risen against their Wizarding masters - for that was truly what the Wizards were to them - demanding part in the wand-tied magics.

But Mikano was too restless to simply sit on her butt and dutifully write notes on Gorgor the Bloodless and Geswan the Giddy. When Professor Bellowicz eventually looked at the clock and with a cheerfully surprised chuckle exclaimed: "Will you look at that! Time sure flies in the company of the past! Off you go!", Mikano shot out of her chair. Bless Magic that next class was Brooms. Bless Magic.

Only Cherry's arm linked through hers prevented Mikano from dashing all the way to the flying fields. She settled for a brisk walk instead, pulling ahead of her classmates.

"Gee, Miki, no need to pull like that," Cherry complained good-humouredly. "The brooms aren't gonna fly off without you, you know."

"I need to get in the air," Mikano answered simply.

"Class won't start in ten minutes."

"Madam Hooch lets us warm up if we get there early."

Cherry laughed. "Wanna play broom tag then? I don't think Sasuke and Eren would mind joining. Or your brother when he gets here."

Mikano flicked one of her two full, red braids over her shoulder, inhaling the cold October air as they stepped outside the walls of Hogwarts. "I'll beat you all into the dust."

"Believe it, sister!" Naruto yelled as he dashed past them onto the grass. "Race me to the brooms!"

"Talking about the sun," Cherry mumbled.

"No way naphat, I'm not you!" Mikano formed a tract with her hands in front of her mouth to make her voice carry over the wind's howling in the half-bare tree crowns.

"And thank Merlin for that!" Cherry shook her head and smiled impishly as she glanced at Mikano. "He's _loud_."

"Tell me about it," Mikano snorted. "We share a bedroom at home."

Cherry made a sympathetic noise.

Mikano watched as Naruto reached Madam Hooch and the stack of school brooms. He threw his hat on the ground as he crouched to inspect the brooms for a second then grabbed one. As he mounted it, he gave Madam Hooch a military salute then kicked off. He soared high above the ground, Madam Hooch's head turned to watch him. He began pulling all kind of stunts, swerving, zigzagging, barrel-rolling. When he began looping like a demented rollercoaster (Kushina arranged yearly trips to Muggle theme parks for the children at Konoha Orphanage and her own offspring got to tag along), Mikano had enough.

"Sod it, I'm running." She dislodged her arm from the crook of Cherry's elbow and ran the last hundred metres to where the brooms were lying.

"Hi Professor," she said breathlessly without looking up. Her eyes swept the brooms in search of the least crooked, chipped, and frizzle-bristled specimen. She chose one that didn't look too battered thinking to herself, as she did every time she had to ride one of Hogwarts' pitiful old Cleansweeps, how terribly annoying it was that you couldn't bring your own broom. She had the nicest Nimbus at home.

"I'll just go warm up," she told Madam Hooch who nodded once. And off she was.

The wind wasn't too bad today though one still had to take its direction into account when executing manoeuvres. Mikano closed her eyes for a second simply feeling the wind pulling on her garments and tugging at her hair. It was fresh and chilly, a promise of winter hinting in the smell of cold and late autumn.

"Hey, Miki," Naruto appeared beside her, dipping up and down as if he was riding a bucking horse. Mikano knew he was doing it on purpose. "Wanna race?"

"Cherry wanted to play tag."

"We only have five minutes…"

"Eat my twigs - YOU'RE IT!" Mikano hit him on the shoulder as she pulled her broom sharply to the right, zooming upwards. Below her, Naruto laughed delightedly and gave chase.

Mikano adored flying though she had never cared for quidditch. At home, she would zoom around in the sky until her finger joints ached and her butt was so sore she could barely walk. A broom dare was the only sort of challenge she would accept from her brother who liked to make everything a competition. Too bad he was as good a rider as she.

They shot across the sky, Mikano twisting and turning to stay out of Naruto's reach. Slowly, the air filled with the other students and Cherry joined the game. Naruto immediately tapped her foot by rolling underneath her making her it. The game was now almost unfair as the twins were much better fliers than Cherry. Mikano quickly took pity on her friend who cried out with delight when she smacked Mikano's jutting elbow.

Mikano pulled her broom around, searching for a specific black, chicken-butt-haired head among the fifteen or so students now hovering in the air. But Sasuke was still on the ground talking to Madam Hooch. What a bore. Her friend was probably too much of a sissy to risk being beaten fair and square in a game of broom tag.

Mikano's terrific, flying-induced good mood held all the way through Societal Studies and right into Defence where they were practising rudimentary Shield Charms. From Sasuke, who enjoyed physical training far more than Mikano and followingly had a greater interest in practical combat tactics than her, Mikano knew dodging was almost always better than shielding, but for somebody like her who straight up lacked the coordination to move out of a kunai's (or spell's) way fast enough, knowing some solid Shield Charms seemed very sensible, why Mikano had already looked into them in her own time. Unfortunately, it was rather hard to practice shields alone as you needed someone to test them, someone to batter them with spells.

So she welcomed Obito's practical. Sasuke had claimed her as his partner almost before their teacher had finished explaining the drill in which they, in pairs, would take turns casting _Tutor_ , a very simple, weak, and easy Shield Charm which they had practised the last lesson, and trying to break the shield with a number of simple jinxes they were expected to have studied for today.

From the way Sasuke looked at her, that little quirk playing on his lips, Mikano knew he was not going to go easy on her. Mikano steeled herself for the prospect of getting her butt kicked.

Sasuke was simply better than her. There was no way around it. She wasn't jealous of him, not per se. It just felt like every time she climbed a mountain, Sasuke was already having a picnic at the peak. She knew that wasn't true. Sasuke worked hard. Very hard. Even if he was a prodigy by any reasonable standard, he wasn't up against reasonable. He was up against Uchiha. And no Uchiha would be proud to have a child who even approached ordinary in terms of skills.

Furthermore, Sasuke was under even more pressure than just about any other Uchiha too because of two things: Firstly, because his dad, Fugaku Uchiha, was the Uchiha's Clan Head. Secondly, because his older brother Itachi was already hogging all the limelight. Mikano was sure Itachi didn't mean to, and she knew Sasuke knew too and harboured no ill feelings towards his brother for raising the bar of success even further above his head. If anything, Sasuke adored his brother and Mikano would bet her life the feeling was reciprocated. Mikano usually thought Itachi was almost impossible to read but the way he looked at Sasuke when he knew his little brother wasn't looking spoke of oceans of devotion and love so deep Mikano could barely begin to grasp its depth.

Mikano was pulled from her contemplations rather forcefully when a spell hit her in the chest making her legs involuntarily spasm off in a tap dance on the classroom floor. She shrieked, too surprised to remember the appropriate counterspell at the moment. Lestrange, who had turned around to watch the spectacle as a number of the students had, snickered meanly while Sasuke cast a second spell with his wand pointed at Mikano.

" _Finite_! Mikano, pay attention."

Mikano's legs stilled and she glared at Sasuke petulantly. She realized her classmates had begun the drill while she was contemplating her best friend. She clamped down on an angry retort and instead changed the position of her feet so her stance would be firmer.

"I'm ready now," she bit out. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

" _Tarantallegra_!"

" _Tutor!_ "

As Mikano was about to head for the Defence door, her legs sore from jerking violently every time Sasuke's spell had shattered her shield or she simply hadn't cast the _Tutor_ fast enough, Obito's voice halted her.

"Ms Uzumaki? Would you mind staying for a minute?"

Sasuke raised an inquiring eyebrow at her and she shrugged. She had no idea what her Uncle Obito wanted.

"Just go ahead. You'll be in the common room, right?" She addressed her question to Cherry, the heart of their little group of four.

"Sure," Cherry said cheerfully. "Shikamaru needs a haircut and he's getting one today, whether he wants it or not."

"I might be out," Sasuke said cryptically.

"Itachi?" Mikano asked.

Sasuke hummed noncommittally and she gave him an unimpressed look. She wasn't going to dig in a room filled with classmates though, and with Obito waiting for her. But it wasn't fair he never brought her along when he went to seek out his big brother. She was sure Itachi was teaching Sasuke all kinds of supercool magic or telling him more about the secrets of Hogwarts, like that treat about the location of the kitchens.

"Right, see you later then," Mikano grumbled and picked up her back.

She approached Obito who had just stood up from behind his desk. As she reached him, the last stragglers left the classroom and they were alone.

"What's up Uncle?" She regarded him curiously. He grinned, the mask of authority he wore while teaching melting away.

"Wanna come to my office and have a cup of tea? We haven't had a proper talk since August. It won't be long; I know how busy my students are." He winked at her and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Alright. But only if you let _me_ brew the tea."

Obito huffed but gestured for her to follow him through a doorway which had materialized in the stone wall behind him. "I'm not that disastrous a tea brewer."

"Obito," Mikano looked at him seriously, "the tea you make could be used as a pesticide."

Obito laughed as he shut the door behind them and shrugged off his robe. He was wearing a loose, V-necked Uchiha shirt under it. "I'll be sure to tell Professor Longbottom."

Mikano smiled as she looked around at the room. It wasn't large and the messy shelves and assortment of furniture certainly did not make it look bigger. It had a single narrow window which offered a view over the entrance to the castle and the road to the Hogwarts Gates. Books, some large, some ancient, most very battered, were stacked on the floor behind the desk in piles as tall as a man. In a corner, upon a pile of cages stood…

"Is that a stuffed manticore?" Mikano gasped.

"Just a baby. I promise you I found it like that. Stuffed, I mean. They are a very endangered species, you know, and protected under international Wizarding law. I think there is only a handful left." Obito pointed his wand at a stack of books on the frayed rug in front of the fireplace and they turned into two old-fashioned armchairs with matching leg rests and a little three-legged table between them. He lit a merrily crackling fire in the fireplace with a flick of his wand and a mumbled incantation before striding towards a heavy door opposite the fire. "Wait a moment," he said, disappearing through the doorway.

Mikano moved over to the fireplace warming her hands by the flames. October was only getting colder as it drew to an end. She studied the fire, the way it flickered and lapped at the logs, relaxing.

"Here you go." Obito put down a tea set and an assortment of teabags.

Mikano smiled and set about preparing the teapot while Obito lowered himself into one of the armchairs.

"So," he cleared his throat. "How are you? How do you find Hogwarts? What about the snake pit?"

Mikano snorted. "Don't tell me you buy into that whole Gryffindor-Slytherin thing too."

Obito chuckled. "Of course not. First of all, I'm a teacher. Also, my best friend was a Slytherin."

"Huh? Uncle Kakashi was in Slytherin? I didn't know that." She wasn't very surprised though. Kakashi just had that vibe.

"Well, Houses never mattered much to us shinobi." The flames reflected in his eyes danced as he stared at the fire. "And Kakashi isn't really one to share personal information regardless." The corner of his mouth curved up.

"Now, that's a fact," Mikano grinned. After a moment of silence, she declared: "Tea's ready," and poured the amber liquid into the two mugs.

Obito picked one up and sniffed it. "Nice."

"I miss good tea," Mikano said wistfully.

"Ask your family to send some. Talking about your family…" Obito sounded somewhere between amused and embarrassed.

Mikano straightened.

"I went to visit last week because I had an errand in Konoha in any case. Your mum told me to scold you for not writing home enough. Minato is all twitchy for news." Obito laughed. "An owl arrived, a tabby one, with a scroll, and Minato looked terribly crestfallen when he realized it wasn't yours. You know how he gets."

Mikano grimaced. Her Dad could be such a mother hen. But in truth, she probably should write home more often. Or her mother would have it in for her when she had to go home in December.

"I'll do better," she promised Obito, sipping her tea. It was nice and bitter without being unpalatable.

Obito grinned, lifting his cup towards his own lips.

"Obito? You here?"

Obito's hand holding the teacup jerked as he started out of his armchair, spilling most of his tea down the front of his shirt. "Rin? Yeah, I'm here." He cursed as he looked down at himself, the sodden trail of hot Earl Grey materializing as a large, dark patch.

Mikano blinked, confused for a moment before her brain caught up with the fact that Aunt Rin's head had just appeared in the fireplace's dancing flames.

"Obito!" Rin exclaimed, laughing. "Don't use that sort of language in the presence of students! Hi again Miki." She aimed the last comment at Mikano twisting the outline of her face in the fire. "How's your head?"

"Hi Rin," Mikano smiled as Obito dried his clothes with a wordless spell. "Got over that weeks ago."

"Thought you would," Rin said approvingly. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm in a bit of a hurry…" _As always_ , Mikano supplied mentally, "I just wanted to…"

She caught Obito's eyes as he stowed his wand and swigged the poor remains of his cup before setting it back on the saucer. He crouched down to be closer to Rin's eye level, rubbing the back of his head.

"Listening," he said, grinning sheepishly.

Rin answered his awkward grin with a smile that to Mikano's eyes was obviously affectionate, though the twirling flames made expressions harder to determine. "Kurenai and Asuma are having their anniversary dinner tonight, remember?"

Obito's eyes turned so blatantly nonplussed that both Rin and Mikano laughed. Obito looked even more sheepish.

"Thought so," Rin chuckled. "Which is why I'm Firecalling you from my boss's office while on duty to make sure you're on their doorstep by seven tonight. Don't be late," she said teasingly, "and wear something nice."

Mikano could have sworn Rin winked as her face disintegrated in the flames.

Obito stepped back and let himself fall back into his armchair.

"Hokage," he breathed, threading his fingers through his short, black hair making it stick up.

Mikano noticed his fair Uchiha skin was tainted with colour over the cheekbones. Now, this might be attributed to his recent closeness to the lit fireplace, but Mikano knew better.

"You should ask her out already," Mikano noted matter-of-factly.

Obito slumped in his chair, digging the heel of his hand into his forehead. "Mikano, I've been in love with her since before you were born. It's not that easy."

"I think you're _making_ it hard. And I don't think Rin would be… _averse_ to going on a date if you asked her out." Hell, at this rate Rin might just go ahead and ask Obito out herself with the tortoise-pace he was setting.

" _Averse_? What sort of word is that even for an eleven-year-old to use? Mikano, you read to many books." Obito laughed wearily. "I didn't have half your vocabulary before I was twice your age."

"Don't sell yourself short." Mikano furrowed her brows. "And don't change the subject. You're being a chicken about it." He scowled at her sideways but she soldiered on. "Even if you're a teacher now and rarely does missions, the shinobi life is still, and always, life on the edge. You never know when some chance spell is gonna put you out on the battlefield or an ambush takes you unprepared. You know that I know that. Rin knows that. You're wasting your love, and both yours and Rin's time, by being a damn sissy about asking her out. You're almost, what, 30? How long are you going to wait? And how long is Rin gonna wait for _you_?"

"Enough!" Obito growled. He glared at Mikano sullenly cross. "Don't you have a _Tutor_ or something you should practice? We have tests next week, for your information."

Mikano emptied her cup of tea, which had cooled by now, before throwing her hands up. She wasn't intimidated by her Uncle's bad temper, suspecting, _hoping_ , it was directed as much at himself as at her, but she wasn't going to hang around if he was in a mood. Also, she really did have to study. She stood up.

"Right. I just thought someone should call your bull-"

"Out!" Cranky arse.

"Remember to dress nicely," she said, her comment playful but with a veiled touch of a sneer. He really didn't have to be so rude just because someone gave him a piece of their, very _right_ , it should be noted, mind.

She stalked to the door leading to the classroom, opened it and slipped out. Before closing the crack behind her, she sneaked a peek back inside. Obito had gotten up and now stood with his back towards her, his hands folded behind the small of his back, looking out the window overlooking the Hogwarts Entrance. Pensively, she could imagine. He had better be thinking carefully about what she told him today. She only wanted for him and Rin to be happy, after all.

Silently, she slid the door closed.

October snailed to an end. Mikano and Lestrange's partnership ended exactly as horrendously as it had begun with Mikano almost scratching Lestrange's eyes out when the latter 'accidentally' dropped the report on the Pyretipoof Potion that Mikano had spent all evening yesterday writing. And this happened Thursday, the day before the joint potion and report were due. Mikano had in no uncertain terms informed Lestrange that she could have the pleasure of writing a new report herself now that she had so demonstratively explained her dissatisfaction with Mikano's - though her choice of words at the specific time had been a little different, resulting in Professor Drizzle deducting ten points from Slytherin and giving Mikano a detention to be served over the weekend.

Bloody brilliant. Mikano had not uttered a single word to the sleazy, smug-looking, infuriating, hood-eyed brunette since then, and had not at all been surprised when their report was returned the week after with the grade 'P' for 'Poor' along with the explanatory note: _Distressing teamwork with substandard results._

Mikano had never before been told by a teacher that her performance was 'substandard' and subsequently spent the last Friday evening in October with her three friends coming up with exceedingly creative ways to rid the world of the tiresome presence of Delphini Lestrange. Eren had some surprisingly inspired suggestions while Cherry kept looking around nervously, terrified said Lestrange might come within earshot of their conversation.

As the evening went on, Mikano was almost able to forget Lestrange and the fact that Sasuke, the bastard, (unsurprisingly) had gotten an O despite his group's rocky start, and instead feel smug about her quarter test scores in the rest of the subjects which were certainly _not_ substandard. 'Focus on the good stuff,' as her Dad would say.


	11. The Last Straw

The first Monday in November was a blessed holiday to all students after the stressful mid-semester tests. Mikano had spent the morning relaxing and playing Wizarding chess with her friends then snuck off to the library with a disgruntled Sasuke, Eren having beaten him magnificently at the game. To be fair, Shogi was monumentally more popular in Konoha than Wizarding chess, and Eren had solemnly taken it upon himself to remedy this most unfortunate slip in their basic education.

Now, it was almost curfew and Mikano was gingerly making her way down the steps leading from the freezing, draft-infested Owlery. She had followed Obito's advice and reluctantly written a lengthy letter detailing her first two months at Hogwarts.

She had written about the Slytherin common room, her friends, Obito, Professor Maito (and his gruelling classes), Theory, her glee at the sizable library, her dislike for Lestrange, small observations, things that had caught her attention, inconsequential stuff. She deliberately left out any mentioning of her trouble with Hannibal, Emma, and Owen.

Coming to think about her three fifth-year tormentors… They had been conspicuously quiet for a while now. As a matter of fact, they hadn't done anything to her at all since that Friday more than a week ago where they got her with her Pimple Jinx Kabuto healed. It made her suspicious, tense. Perhaps they had been busy studying for the quarter tests themselves: they were going to take their OWLs this year after all.

Mikano had barely thought the thought to an end before she detected a motion behind her the fraction of a second before a number of things happened very fast. She twisted around to look behind her, catching a blurry glimpse of a stocky person leaping at her. She heard a high voice cry, " _Silencio_!" coming from an alcove further down the hallway in the direction she had been heading before she caught the hint of movement. Her hand automatically went for her wand in the robe pocket but before she could reach it, the _Silencio_ spell hit the back of her head with a slithery sensation as the body leaping at her slammed into her side, grabbing at her arms. She would have been knocked over if Owen, who she now recognised, had not found purchase among her wide robe sleeve folds, tightening his fingers in a punishing grip around her wrists and lower arms. She cried out from both pain and surprise but only air passed her lips, no sound.

Her eyes widened as a sliver of fear shot through her. Owen was breathing heavily behind her as he twisted her arms behind her. Mikano stomped down on his toes as hard as she could and a sharp yell of pain tore out of him before he shook her violently, making pain shoot through her shoulders.

"Slimy _shinobi_ ," he hissed through clenched teeth making 'shinobi' sound like the worst curse word imaginable.

Hannibal jumped out of his cover in the alcove with a low, "Yes!" then frantically gesturing for Owen to follow him. Owen jerked Mikano's aching arms further up her back forcing her to bend over, gasping for breath as he forced her to stumble forward.

Mikano was too aware of the sharp pain in her shoulders that felt like they were about to dislocate to think about any form of resistance before she was shoved headfirst into an empty broom closet down a minor corridor. She barely had time to shield her head against the brooms, mops and associated cleaning equipment that came tumbling down on her as she was thrown among them.

"Em, quick! Quick!" Hannibal whispered harshly.

Something was tossed through the gap between the closet doors landing near Mikano's hand with a light thump.

"Close it! Close it!" Hannibal's voice was excited, low, and a tad shrill to Mikano's dazed ears. She weakly tried to kick at the doors, starting to panic a little, but they were slammed shut.

" _Colloportus_!" Owen said harshly. Mikano recognised the Locking Spell, a rudimentary charm with a rather self-explanatory name. Somebody rattled the doors but they barely gave.

"Let's go!" Emma whispered, a high-strung but triumphant note in her voice. Their footfalls fell swiftly - they were clearly running - and receded quickly.

Mikano was jarred to attention as something very painful latched onto the back of her hand. She yelped soundlessly and snatched her hand to her chest, hearing the soft sound and feeling the weight of something following. She shook her hand frantically but the something attached to her hand did not fall off. Rather, it began creeping up her sleeve, fast, spikes of freezing agony piercing her skin every inch.

She clawed at the thing futilely with her other hand. If she had been thinking straight, she would have covered her hand with the robe sleeve before touching the attacking organism but her thinking processes were disrupted by the stabbing pain spreading rapidly up her arm. As it was, Mikano only gained a faint notion of the thing from Emma's bag being some sort of plant with silky, narrow leaves and a spidery web of roots etching into her skin before some of the said roots eagerly seized the tips of the fingers on her scratching hand.

She tore her hands apart but the ivy-like plant was already edging down her fingers, over her palm, and she sobbed soundlessly. She held her hands out in front of her, as far away from the rest of her body as the narrow broom closet allowed, but there was no stopping the plant as bored into her armpits and began its conquering of her back and chest. She violently defied her automatic desire to wipe the tears from her cheeks where they were making uncomfortable wet trails.

She breathed in shakily, trying to gather the thought the continuous stabs of itching anguish, now also playing across her clavicles, were scattering. Her first, foremost, and _only_ objective at the moment was stopping the plant's rapid takeover of her skin.

 _Think Mikano_ , think _!_ she yelled mutely. What to do? _What to do?_

Everywhere the plant was touching her, she was on fire. The pain was like acid, searing. Her hands, her arms, her chest, her back. It was creeping across the soft skin of her belly and snaking up her throat. Mikano screamed, soundlessly, still muted by Hannibal's _Silencio_.

Her body spasmed and reacted almost reflexively. She felt her magic stir and coil agitatedly under her skin and in a desperate attempt to rid herself of the ravaging plant's agonising onslaught, she set it free, pushing it through every pore in an instant. Her eyes were clenched shut but the flash of light was so sharp it imprinted itself on her eyelids.

The magical release across her skin was the only sensation she felt for a moment then it subsided, and she became aware of the plant twisting laboriously then stilling its advances over her throat. The pain peaked in a blinding instant and Mikano lost consciousness.

The first thing Mikano became aware of when she woke was the sore, dull ache that had replaced the piercing, shredding agony across her skin from before. The second thing she noticed was the bucket edge digging painfully into her shoulder. She gingerly straightened herself from her slump, barely daring to stir out of fear her movement would rouse the dormant plant.

Mikano drew a shaky breath. It was completely dark inside the broom closet.

She had to gather her thoughts and come up with a plan, a battle plan. She did not know how long she had been out but surely curfew was long past. Cherry should have become worried when Mikano did not return to the common room - surely she would have noticed Mikano was gone. People might be out looking for her this very moment. But she could not count on that. Even if there was, what was the chance they would examine this particular nondescript, out of the way broom closet? Perhaps she should bang the walls of the closet. If only she was loud enough, somebody _ought_ to notice. The castle's corridors were never completely deserted after all.

But what if that woke up the plant? Mikano shivered and drew a shaky breath. She didn't know if she had managed to kill the thing or simply stun it; if it was out for good or simply recharging its energies to continue its unbearable advances. She didn't dare find out.

A sob forced its way out of her chest. She was dizzy, she _hurt_. Her throat was parched and her eyes felt heavy and swollen. The closet was stuffy and smelled a little like a sewer.

She steeled herself, stilling her breath. She had won against the ivy snare; she wasn't going to let a stupid closet stand in her way. And she was _not_ going to have a breakdown. She was her parents' daughter. She was an Uzumaki. She was going to get herself out of this twist if she had to chew her way through the doors.

Finding strength in the resolution bolting through her, Mikano closed her eyes - she couldn't see anything anyway - and creased her brows, thinking hard. She had no voice and therefore could not cry for help. That did in any case seem a little undignified but Mikano also acknowledged she wasn't in any position to be picky about her options. She also could not move too much in case it would awaken the dormant plant. Still, the prefects would be making rounds even at this time, right? If she heard anybody in the hallway, she would take a chance and make a ruckus.

Also, she still had her wand. Nothing else in the broom closet struck her as particularly useful, but even her wand came with a set of drawback: How was she to chant incantations when she had no voice? She knew the counter-spell to _Colloportus_ , namely _Alohomora,_ but that barely did her any good if she couldn't cast it. Of course, Mikano knew about nonverbal spells but they were supposed to be very hard and required a great deal of control and determination on the Wizard's part. They weren't going to cover those in class until, like, fourth or fifth year! Mikano knew she was more than decent at Spells and Theory, but was she _that_ good?

What if she wasn't? What if the plant suddenly came to life again and began searing her face? Would it penetrate through her mouth and nose, pushing down her throat with its corrosive threads of misery, choking her as she cried out in pain and horror? Would she ever be found in this closet? The Owlery was in an out of the way part of Hogwarts and the path Mikano had taken to it had not even been the most common… Coming to think of it, how had the Gryffindor Gang even known where to ambush her? Had they been stalking her? What were they even _thinking of_ locking her in a broom closet, alone, muted, with a possibly lethal organism?! This was tantamount to attempted murder!

Mikano felt white-hot rage and horrified indignation light her up from within. When she got out of here, she was going to take her revenge. And it would be something to behold.

Mikano felt more alive than she had in a long time. She was going to get out of this closet and she was not going to doubt her ability to carry out this resolution. So what if eleven-year-olds were not supposed to do nonverbal magic? She had fried the plant. She was an Uzumaki. What did she care if she wasn't 'supposed' to be able to? She would do it anyway.

She slowly dug into her robe pocket, her joints creaking. She could feel the glove of leafy web stir vaguely, and she suddenly realized, with a pang of fear, that her wand might have broken when she was manhandled by Owen earlier. With a great exhale of relief, she found and fingered its familiar slender form before carefully drawing it in front of her.

Now, if she was going to cast a nonverbal charm it better had only been once. While she was desperate to get out of the narrow closet, it was more sensible to cancel the _Silencio_ first. _Finite_ should work. Despite herself, she smiled grimly. At least her frustrating struggle to learn the spell was finally paying off. She had been at pains to cast it correctly but at this point, it was as familiar to her as Naruto's eyes. She drew the wand pattern in the air a couple of times, not surprised it was ingrained into her muscle memory considering how often she had repeated it.

She was about to call upon her magic then hesitated, trying to recall what she knew about nonverbal spells and how to cast them. She knew some basics from Theory and could supply that knowledge with what she had read in the library before deciding this art was yet beyond her - she had not suspected she might need the skill any time soon…

The wand was a conduit for the magic. The wand movement and the incantation were what gave the moulded magic shape. Unmoulded magic could be controlled by the wielder's will but as soon as it was processed, moulded, it needed more refined directions to work. That was the whole reason why Wizardkind had invented spells, to begin with. For a moment she wondered how deaf-mute Wizards cast spells before she irritated beat down the thought. No time for mental detours now.

How was she going get around the I-can't-say-the-incantation issue? She cursed herself for not having paid more attention to the book on nonverbal spells she had skimmed through less than a month earlier. Perhaps thinking the incantation very hard in her head would suffice? She could even form the syllables with her mouth even if no sound would come out with the breath. What else was there to do than try? She couldn't come up with a better substitute for voicing the incantation so she buckled down.

She went inside herself, sinking into the state of mind which let her perceive the flow of magic inside her body with ease and practice. She could tell the well of her magic was barely drained despite her uncontrolled outburst earlier. The Uzumaki reservoirs were deep. She raised her wand and moulded a thread of magic the instant before she flicked her wand at the closet doors and thought as loudly and clearly as she could: _Finite Incantatem_!

Her moulded magic twisted towards the wand at her command then recoiled. She tried again. And again. And again. With each attempt, Mikano could tell she got closer to successful execution from the way her magic surged towards the wand, taking shape. It was like learning how to aim and throw a kunai. There was no secret trick. The only option was determination and focused repetition.

To an outside observer, it would have seemed like Mikano was making no progress at all. In the end, either your spell was cast or it was not, and Mikano's voice remained gone. But she could scent victory in the musty air and kept going.

Her arm cramped. She took a moment to stretch and flex her fingers then resumed. Her tired thoughts wandered but each time it happened, she brutally cracked down on her distraction. She lost track of time. She stopped taking notice of her progress and instead focused all her attention on pronouncing the incantation - which at this point was only a meaningless jumble of sounds in her head - correctly and with authority. She felt tiny ripples in the plant stretched across her skin. The dull ache it had consistently caused, which she had unconsciously put out of her mind, turned prickling then stinging. She was too consumed by her effort to cast the _Finite_ charm to take notice of the strands of panic and despair that flashed through the back of her mind at the plant's stirring.

Then, without warning, it worked. She felt her moulded magic slip up her wand, springing from the tip aimed at her lips. She gasped, and it sounded choked. But a sound it did make.

Half unconscious, she aimed her wand at the closet doors croaking, " _Alohomora!_ "

The lock clicked open. Mikano was jarred from her lightheaded trance by the unexpected sound. Almost in disbelief, she moved her hand, still holding the wand, and pushed at one of the closet doors with her knuckles. The leaves caught between her hand and the wood twitched but Mikano didn't even notice as the door slid open, letting grey night light in. A sob tore at her dry throat and she stumbled out on the cold stone floor.

The ivy seemed to tighten all over her body for a moment constricting Mikano's chest. Then piercing pain ignited across every occupied inch of skin, making Mikano cry out. It was fire, fire scorching to her bones. And worst of all, she felt the slender roots prod at her neck looking for untouched areas to consume.

Mikano clenched her teeth, clawing at the unforgiving floor as tears sprung from her eyes against her will. With a surge of blind determination, she pushed herself to her feet, forcing her stiff, aching muscles to obey. She stumbled forward in the semi-darkness. The moon was covered by November clouds and the windows in this corridor were few and far between. With a hiss, she lit her wand. If she fell, she would not get up again.

She struggled forward, dragging her feet one painstaking step at a time. The ivy was nibbling at her lips now and twisting into the back of her hair. Its grip on her throat made it exceedingly difficult to breathe.

Her vision was narrowed on the lit tip of her wand but suddenly the light doubled and a violent dizzy spell overcame her. She wobbled, slumped, and slid down the nearby hallway wall. Echoing in the distance, she almost thought she heard a cat's meow.

She was out before she hit the floor.


	12. The Bystander

The cold, sloshing snow was annoying. It obscured his vision, even if it wasn't heavy, and threatened to enter his mouth with every hard inhale. Sasuke wasn't letting it slow him down though. He lowered his head, his bangs sticking to his cheeks. His breath came out in sharp, hot pants, and his feet hammered steadily against the muddy ground.

He had been by the bed when Aunt Kushina and Uncle Minato appeared in Hospital Wing. Their clothing showed clear signs of having been thrown on quickly and the Hokage's hair was flattened in the back. They had dashed to Mikano's bed when they caught sight of him, their eyes haunted and belligerent as they looked down on their daughter marred face.

That was almost two days ago. Mikano had yet to wake up.

He clenched his teeth, running faster, forcing his thighs to work till they burned and his lungs were fighting to keep up. As his vision narrowed on the muddy track along the lakeshore, he struggled to suppress the confused wad of feelings he felt twisting in his chest and mind.

Anger, for sure. Wrath. His dragon heartstring wand itched to hex those cursed, cowardly Gryffindors into the next century, the next millennia. Upset and distress at what had been done to Mikano and the fact that he had not been there to prevent it. Fear, that she would not wake up again after all.

Cherry wouldn't stop crying even if Kabuto assured them Mikano would wake up soon enough. Ivy's Ire, the silver-leafed plant that had covered Mikano from head to toe when Sasuke found her, Kabuto explained, was not lethal, only - _only_ \- painful. And toxic, why Mikano was still out. The plant had to be removed from her body, every thread of root embedded in her skin extracted, and every trace of poison expelled from her system before she would wake up. At least, Mrs Longbottom had said, the scars would have dimmed by then.

The _scars_. Swollen lines as angry red as Mikano's hair crisscrossing her skin from her fingertips to her hairline. They attested to what suffering Mikano ought to have endured before she passed out there in the middle of the hallway. Sasuke would have strangled Hunter, Hatter, and Hartstone with his own two hands if Kabuto had not restrained him. He still wondered if he should just go ahead and do it anyway.

Naruto hadn't been showing up to classes since Mikano was hospitalized and at the one meal Sasuke had seen him, with a determined Uzumaki cousin at each shoulder, he had seemed gaunt and distant. Sasuke was absolutely certain Naruto, the clueless dope, had no idea who had attacked Mikano or no amount of sensible advice could have prevented him from going bananas on his three older housemates.

Sasuke certainly had been ready to rip out their throats when he'd finally found Mikano unconscious, consumed by the ivy, on the fifth floor.

It was Dash who had woken him up in the middle of the night by jumping onto his chest meowing his foul breath loudly and straight into Sasuke's sleeping face. He had sworn at it and tried to swat the animal away, but Dash had been very insistent. When his dorm mates began shifting and groaning, Sasuke had scowled at his annoying pet and pulled on a shirt and his shoes. The cat made it clear it wanted him to follow it out so he pulled on his winter robe and slipped through the dorm door.

The common room was unsurprisingly deserted. Sasuke's head was quickly clearing of the mists of sleep. He lit his wand and went through the portal into the impenetrable darkness of the dungeons in which Dash became a shadow. The cat's eyes flashed in the wand light as it meowed and set off into an alcove. Sasuke had followed, frowning slightly as he discovered a secret passage of steep steps. He heard Dash's insistent yowling further up and wondered only briefly if this was really such a good idea before following.

Dash may not have impressed him in the past but that night he certainly earned his keep. _Maybe he's growing into his abilities_ , Sasuke thought, his running pace more moderate now, one he could keep going at for a very long time. _He is a nin-cat, after all_.

Dash had let him well through the castle, trotting down corridors Sasuke had never been in before, slinking through hidden shortcuts. He had just emerged from one of these passages somewhere on perhaps the fourth floor when another person's _Lumos_ lit up the hallway. Sasuke had instantly drawn back into the shadows of the draping covering the narrow fissure in the wall he had just exited through. Dash meowed loudly, adamantly, and Sasuke had cursed the creature under his breath. If he was caught, he would be lucky to get off with just detention. He didn't particularly think 'my cat seemed like it had something important to show me' would be an acceptable excuse to whichever teacher or prefect was patrolling the dark Hogwarts halls.

The steps closed in on his hiding place with deliberation and Sasuke resigned himself to his fate. A hand, pale in the _Lumos_ light, yanked the draping aside.

"Sasuke?" Kabuto's surprised voice had sounded. "What are you…?" Kabuto's voice trailed off as both he and Sasuke looked down. Dash was standing on his hind legs, his forepaws with all ten claws visibly out against Kabuto's thigh. The cat meowed very demandingly, looking straight into Kabuto's wide, dark eyes. Dash fell down on all fours again and caught Kabuto's robe hem between his sharp teeth. He tugged at it like a puppy, jerking backwards until the fabric began to tear. Kabuto took a step towards the cat who let go, hissing heatedly.

"Let me explain on the way," Sasuke offered as they set off after Dash who was bounding down the hall.

Sasuke didn't want to think about what would have happened if he had ignored Dash's efforts that night. They had found Mikano twitching on the fifth floor, covered head to foot in a web of roots and slightly charred, shimmering, silvery leaves like spearheads. Her face had been so obscured by the plant they had only been able to reliably identify her by her long, tangled hair.

Sasuke had stopped dead, Dash twisting around his ankles, purring, while Kabuto rushed to the curled-up shape on the floor. He had cast a flurry of spells in quick succession making the air flicker then pointed his wand at Mikano's face and in a calm voice said, " _Peruro Religato,_ " sweeping his wand down the body. Frozen by shock, Sasuke had watched as a wave of destruction rippled through the plant leaving it charred and crippled in its wake. Kabuto knelt and carefully cleared Mikano's airways before picking her up. He had looked intently into Sasuke's eyes, his thick glasses flashing in Sasuke's _Lumos_ , and simply said, "She'll be fine," before dashing down the hallway.

For a confused second, Sasuke understood nothing. Then he turned on his heal sprinting after Kabuto.

A triggered emergency ward in the Hospital Wing had Mrs Longbottom appearing by their side in an instant. She and Kabuto had conferred in clipped voices, and Sasuke understood only little of what happened next. He retreated into the shadows and picked up Dash so they would not be in the way as hectic activity ensued. Professor Longbottom had appeared briefly before being sent off to do something, and a short while later, a shinobi woman with purple bands on her cheeks and a couple of older students appeared. At Mrs Longbottom's directions, they flocked around Mikano's supine form. That was when Kabuto resolutely ushered Sasuke out of the Hospital Wing despite his protests. When Kabuto motioned for Sasuke to follow him down the hall, he had baulked.

"Don't they need you in there?"

Kabuto turned, looked at him, and in a matter of fact tone explained to him what he would later repeat to Cherry, Eren and Mikano's seething fourth-year shinobi acquaintances, Hiyo Kurami and Arashi Hozuki: That Mikano's condition was not life-threatening and so on.

Angry thoughts churned in Sasuke's head as he followed Kabuto to the Slytherin common room. It was only during that walk he had begun to truly process what had just happened and who had to be culpable.

Kabuto, who seemed to sense his state of mind, had stopped them just in front of the blank stretch of dungeon wall masking the portal to the common room. Sasuke crossed his arms belligerently sensing he would not like whatever the grey-haired seventh-year was about to say. He was conscious of the warmth and softness of Dash's fur against his neck in the chilly dungeon air, slung, as the cat was, across his shoulders just as he liked to be when sleeping.

"We both know who did this," Kabuto began, scrutinizing Sasuke's impassive face, "and we both agree they crossed a line tonight." _What an understatement_ , Sasuke had thought wryly _._ "But for the sake of Mikano's pride, I must compel you not to act on her behalf. Don't take _her_ revenge into _your_ hands just to still your own bitterness. I know you have known her for far longer than me, but I think she would not forgive you easily if you took action while she is still in bed."

Sasuke had angrily recognised the truth in that statement which was why he hadn't kicked in the faces of the Gryffindor Gang, as Cherry liked to call them, at breakfast the next morning - and why he was currently running himself into the ground in the sloppy sleet. At the time, however, he was too wound up to calmly accept inaction.

"This harassment has been going on for months but Mikano refuses to do anything about it," Sasuke bit out. "Are we supposed to just watch until they manage to actually kill her?"

Kabuto's voice was unsympathetic and sharp when he answered. "I am familiar with how hard it is to watch a friend struggle alone," he said blandly, "but you if anyone, as an Uchiha, should know the weight of pride. Mikano feels a need to prove that she can look out for herself and sort out her own problems."

The wet snow stopped falling and Sasuke's breath left his lips in hot, visible puffs. His legs were becoming heavy from working on the slippery, muddy ground that only let the soles of his soaked shoes go with reluctance. _Was Kabuto right?_ Sasuke wondered. Mikano was being silly. Pride? She was as obstinate and foolhardy as her dope of a brother sometimes. There was nothing wrong, or embarrassing, or unworthy, about asking your friends for support. Mikano was deliberately making things hard - and dangerous! - for herself, and exasperating Sasuke in the process.

Kabuto had droned on, basically telling him to look after Mikano without crowding her and not confront her about the Gryffindor Gang.

It was stupid. The smartest thing to do would be to tell an adult; their Head of House, Professor Orochimaru, or Professor Obito Uchiha who he knew Mikano was close with. But Mikano would _never_ forgive him if he did that. Stubborn blockhead.

Sasuke huffed sharply and came to a halt. He put his hand against the wet bark of a beech for support as he caught his breath. Four laps around the Great Lake took him less than an hour to complete, especially with burst of speeds like the one he had experienced today. He straightened and looked across the dark grey expanse of water.

Eventually, Kabuto had finished lecturing and brought Sasuke to his dorm room, then disappeared down the hallway to his own. Sasuke had waited half an hour or so before sneaked out once again, though this time leaving Dash asleep on his pillow. He let himself into the Hospital Wing which he found quiet and deserted except for the single body lying supine in a bed, covers drawn to her chin. Mikano hadn't looked asleep. She had looked unconscious.

Sasuke let himself fall down on his hands and toes in the mud. He wasn't concerned about the slosh as he began doing rigid push-ups at a fast pace.

When Mikano woke up, he was going to keep an eye on her, shadow her as he had done while they weren't talking. He was going to protect her if she wasn't going to protect herself. But he would also follow Kabuto's advice and do it surreptitiously. He would not confront her and he would not tell an adult.

The First save them all.


	13. Armed Resistance

They were going to regret it.

They were going to regret ever going after Mikano Uzumaki, and they were going to regret it very much.

Mikano watched the entrance to the Slytherin common room over the top of her History book. During her three days' hospital holiday, she had managed to miss the introduction of no less than six new units, one in each of her subjects. Or perhaps one could count it as only five as Societal Studies and History had coordinated to give the students a more thorough overview of shinobi; their culture, institutions, and history. At least Mikano hadn't had to do anything but skim the chapters covered in class to catch up there. Having missed the double Potions Thursday morning was another matter.

But Mikano had more important things on her mind than schoolwork.

Finally, it was the two people Mikano had been waiting for who entered when the cloudy veil fell. Her eyes followed them as they purposefully crossed the room heading for the girls' dormitory door. When they had gone through it, Mikano got up, pushing her book back into her bag.

"I'm going back to the dorms," she said in answer to her friends' inquiring gazes.

"Me too," Cherry replied immediately, uncurling on the couch.

"No need to." Mikano kept her voice relaxed. "I'm just still tired from yesterday." Mrs Longbottom had, with evident disapproval, let Mikano leave the Hospital Wing this morning after she had woken up sometime Thursday afternoon and declared that she felt absolutely fine - which she did, at least when she wasn't reminded of the raised lines of faded red and purple that tainted every inch of her skin. She knew she looked quite the horror, much to the delightful fright of her peers who shrieked annoyingly and scattered when they saw her. Sodding babies. "You should play a game or something, it's Friday! I know I'm the light of your lives but at least try to have fun without me." She flicked her unbraided hair affectedly and winked to let them know she was joking.

Sasuke raised a brow at her before returning to his crumbled, title-less tome. Eren procured his chessboard and Cherry, seemingly accepting that Mikano was not going to die while left alone to sleep, settled across from him, picking up a limp Dash and arranging him in her lap so she could stroke him while they played.

Mikano smiled to herself and made for the dormitories. She continued past the door to the first-years' dorm room, counting till she reached the fourth-years'. She knocked softly while studying the plate with the six fourth-year girls' names on it.

Hiyo opened the door to let Mikano in, looking surprisingly unsurprised. The fourth years' dorm looked very much like the first years' with four-poster beds with stylish green hangings, snake-details, rugs on the stone floor, and chests and cupboards along the walls. Arashi was sitting cross-legged on one of the beds, her mice asleep on the pillow.

"We thought you would seek us out," Arashi said quietly.

Mikano pursed her lips. "Hiyo once offered me your help. If that still stands, I would like it now."

Hiyo clapped her fist into her palm with a smacking noise. "Bet on it!" she growled with a feral grin.

"Good." Arashi smiled her thin-lipped smile. "Do you have a plan?"

"Nothing too concrete. I wanted your opinions first. But I'm thinking something like a trap, something where it won't matter that they are more than me or bigger than me. I don't want to physically hurt them - not permanently anyways," her eyes darkened, "just thoroughly humiliate them. I want them to regret ever laying eyes on me and think twice or thrice about picking on shinobi children ever again."

"I was thinking something more along the lines of taking off their legs," Hiyo said savagely.

"I think humiliation is a better idea than decapitation too." Arashi sent Hiyo a quelling look - in so far as one without eyes can be said to do so - "and if you are discovered, it can be played off as a prank rather than assault which would mean the difference between expulsion and detentions."

Mikano nodded. "Another reason why I think the trap is a good idea is that it will make it harder to prove my involvement, and _they_ won't spill because they know I could tell stories too, stories much worse." Unconsciously, she let her fingertips brush the raised lines in her palm.

"Then we are looking at a trap that will spring itself," Arashi said pensively, her fingers stretching towards the mice on the pillow. "I actually think this approach will play to your strengths."

Hiyo chuckled. "You aren't the most physical thing, you know." She walked over to lean against one of Arashi's bedposts, her eyes appraising Mikano's slight figure. "Regardless of your trap, we should work on that… We can't have you die before you've taught those bastards a lesson."

Mikano reluctantly agreed. The Gang wasn't going to stop harassing her just because she was busy cooking up retaliation. It was just, she so hated physical labour.

"No way around it, kitten," Hiyo said playfully. Mikano scrunched her nose at the pet name though it somehow didn't feel demeaning like when Hannibal said it, but rather affectionate. "You're gonna be a shinobi next year anyway so you better get used to sweating." She flexed her bicep, making it bulge visibly beneath the fabric of her robe sleeve.

Arashi leaned forward to slap Hiyo on the hip. "Stop it." She turned her faced towards Mikano and continued unapologetically: "She's right, though."

Mikano told herself to stop being a little sissy and nodded determinately.

"About the trap…" Arashi stroked her white familiars. "Are you familiar with seals and runes like Mido? I believe it's a clan thing."

Mikano nodded then shook her head. "Well, it is an Uzumaki trademark but I only have a rather superficial knowledge of it. I haven't really paid it much attention…" The truth was it had seemed a little daunting. She wasn't _bad_ at math but the difficulty level of the equations frequently used in seal theory had dispirited her very quickly when she had delved into them three years ago; she hadn't attempted the subject since.

"That's unfortunate." Mikano got the feeling Arashi was frowning. "Mido is skilled, isn't she?" The question was directed at Hiyo who nodded vigorously.

"Very," she added.

"I have taken Arithmancy, and Runes and Seals since year three so I know something about it." Arashi picked up a sleeping mouse and put it in her lap. "But I suspect what we are going to need for the trap is more elaborate than what I could create."

Mikano thought quickly. "We can't involve Mido, but I think I have another idea. I'll look into it."

Hiyo and Arashi accepted this without question.

"I might have a talent as a magical sensor," Mikano added quickly, trying to repair her feeling of being inadequate.

Arashi pursed her lips. "Now, that could be helpful for our trap."

"You're basically talking about some kind of ward trap right?" Hiyo asked, her green, pupilless eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "That sounds complicated."

"It's going to take a lot of time," Arashi conceded, "and in the end, it may be too advanced for us. Ward traps are tricky, many layers."

Mikano shifted where she stood. During the day, she had considered alternatives to the outline they were discussing now, but after talking it through, she had become convinced there was no other option as refined and proper as this 'ward trap'. It just felt _right_.

"Will you help me?" she finally asked, letting her determination show in her eyes as she gazed steadily at the two fourth-years.

"If you look into the seal issue, I am willing to tutor you in the arts of sensing magic." The corners of Arashi's mouth pulled up in a wry smile. "I'm rather apt at them as you know."

Hiyo cracked her knuckles ominously. "When I'm done with you, you'll be the fittest shinobi in your class - and you'll wish you'd never met me." _Bliss. Just kill me now_ , Mikano thought. "We should meet up tomorrow after breakfast and decide on a schedule."

"And look at the details for the plan," Arashi added.

"Thanks," Mikano said earnestly. "I really appreciate how much time and effort you two are willing to put into my personal revenge plot."

Hiyo snorted a laugh. "Don't kid yourself, kit. I've been wanting to kick those wretches' sorry arses for years."

"Thank you for coming to us," Arashi said gravely. "It's our pleasure."

"I was born blind." Arashi's tone made it clear she was simply stating a fact and was in no way looking for sympathy. Mikano wasn't dumb enough to try to offer it in any case: Arashi was clearly a powerful shinobi in her own right.

They were gathered in an unused dungeon classroom far from the frequented passages. Mikano hadn't known the web of corridors beneath the castle was so extensive but it now became clear to her that the Hogwarts Castle was currently far from it maximum capacity in terms of inhabitants. They were sitting on the floor on massive pillows transfigured by Arashi while Hiyo had swept a circle free of dust with her wand and conjured a fire which quickly chased the damp cold from the room. Mikano was taken aback by their easy wandmanship, and the two fourth-years had finished their preparation before Mikano had any chance to offer her assistance.

"Because of my blindness," Arashi continued, "I had to learn to navigate the world by other means. I have only had my three nin-mice for the last few years. As you know, they let me borrow their eyes when I need it - which I do every time a professor assigns an essay."

Hiyo barked a short laugh. Arashi looked like she would have rolled her eyes if she could.

"But it wasn't like I helpless before I discovered my Nuru, Nero and Niro. You probably haven't heard my clan, the Hozuki clan, as it is Kiri clan," Kiri was another of the five great shinobi villages, located in Sweden, "but we possess a bloodlimit which allow us to turn our bodies into water if we keep hydrated." Mikano fought to keep her eyebrows from disappearing up under her hairline. _Liquefying one's body?_ "This is not directly relevant to what I am going to teach you, but you should know the extents of my own experiences with sensing before learning from me. This bloodlimit gives me the ability to faintly sense the water in my surroundings, and much more strongly so when I'm in the liquefied state." Her thin lips quirked. "Did you know how much of the human body is made out of water? A surprisingly large part. There is water in almost everything and I learned to use that to my advantage from an early age.

"I quickly realized it wasn't sufficient, however," Arashi's expression darkened, "and so I began training in the art of sensing magic. For those who know how to search there are traces of magic everywhere around us - especially in Hogwarts which is one of the most magical places I have ever visited. Through centuries, it has seeped into the very foundation of the castle and every stone of it. It's quite beautiful actually." Her chin turned up as if she was looking through the stone ceiling.

"You should get to the point of being able to sense that within a month or so if you truly do have a talent for it." Arashi's tone was almost teasing. "But I was thinking about focusing more on sensing signatures: every Wizard has a certain magical signature which makes them distinguishable to those with the ability to sense it. You will need it to some degree for the ward as I suspect you won't let me do it for you?" The last words were barely a question but Mikano shook her head vigorously in any case.

"I would like the ward trap to be my own work as much as possible," she said carefully.

"We know." The words could have been jesting, but Hiyo's voice was serious.

"Just to wrap up what I was explaining before," Arashi resumed, "sensing magic is a difficult but diverse art. A true master will be able to see the shape of a spell take form in an enemy caster's wand before it is released and counter it accordingly. It can also be used for sensing the position and ability of an enemy at a distance, see through physical material impenetrable to the naked eye, and determining the structure of, say, protective wards. It's a much-valued ability among trackers, curse-breakers, spies, scouts, and researchers. You are very lucky if you truly have a disposition for it."

Mikano shifted her weight on the pillow. "Professor Orochimaru thought I might have - and I've heard it runs in the Uzumaki blood." Though she, coming to think of it, actually didn't know of any Uzumaki who had it. But that didn't have to mean anything; there wasn't many Uzumakis to choose from in the first place.

"Well," Hiyo clapped her hands together, "then it's my turn!" Her pupilless eyes focused on Mikano with an intensity that made her want to squirm. She forced herself to meet it with calm. "First of all, we have to work on your reflexes and core strength. I really don't think you have either." Mikano huffed indignantly. "Then we have your speed which ties into reflexes and of course your 'battle mind' - reading your opponent and such. I doubt we'll make a combatant out of you just yet, but the least we can do is make you sure you know how to get out of the way and fall properly. And not trip." The last was voiced as a good-natured jibe.

While Mikano thought actually being able to do all these things sounded _wonderful_ , she very much doubted she was going to like the processes of acquiring the skills. But there was no space for fuzzy feelings and self-indulgence in war - and war was what she was in.

"I'm at your disposal," she said determinedly, returning Hiyo's strong gaze. The girl with the wild, grey hair drawn back in a high ponytail nodded approvingly. "Also," Mikano continued, gaining confidence, "I wrote out some details I figured out since yesterday." She procured a scroll from the inside of her robe and laid it out on the floor between the triangle of pillows. A white mouse appeared on Arashi's shoulder. "I was thinking…"

Cherry frowned as she fingered her quill. Mikano had been acting strange lately. Some odd mixture of grim and elated. She had begun receiving post at almost every breakfast, often from the same heart-shape-faced barn owl. She would read the letters immediately with a focused crease between her eyebrows while her lips moved as if forming the words on the parchment.

When Cherry asked about the letters, Mikano evaded. She seemed so busy these days. She was gone from her bed before Cherry woke up in the mornings and during the afternoon and evening, she was rarely anywhere to be found. It made Cherry sad, thinking her perhaps best friend might have lost interest in their friendship.

Cherry peaked at Mikano beside her. She was dutifully taking notes in her elegant script, a lock of her long, red hair having fallen from behind her ear, brushing her cheekbone. Mikano didn't seem to notice. In fact, she looked a little distracted.

Cherry pouted but turned her attention back to the lecture. It was actually very interesting. Professor Bellowicz was lecturing about the causes of the Second Great Shinobi War pointing to the country borders on a pre-World War I map of Europe. Cherry had enjoyed the bit on the founding of Konoha especially. It was so nice that Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had been able to unite their two warring clans and create a village built on principles of peace together in 1862. And it was really cool that Sasuke was an Uchiha too! It had made her very sad, though, when Professor Bellowicz had described how Madara Uchiha left Konoha sixteen years later after the end of the First Great Shinobi War only to return two years later and fight Hashirama Senju just like when their clans were still at war.

Cherry was very cross with Madara for acting like that even if Professor Bellowicz claimed there were no valid sources that could explain the Uchiha's motivation. He said the prevailing theory was that Madara was jealous because Hashirama had been made Hokage (leader of Konoha, Cherry had dutifully noted as a definition) instead of himself and his repressed resentment had intensified with the years as Hashirama's fame and Konoha's success grew.

Cherry still thought it was very cruel and selfish of him challenge his once best friend. In the end, Madara lost the battle and was killed though the First Hokage too died of a curse wound soon after.

The Great Shinobi War Professor Bellowicz was talking about now, the Second, almost correlated with the Muggles' First World War which Cherry had learned about in Muggle school before she went to Hogwarts. It was interesting how Muggle, Wizarding and shinobi wars were interconnected. The Wizarding war against the Dark Lord Grindelwald in the 1940s was closely intertwined with the Muggle's Second World War and according to Professor Bellowicz, some shinobi villages participated though Magical Britain and Konoha were largely uninvolved. It was also remarkable that the Fourth Great Shinobi War had broken out in 1995, the same year the beginning of the Second Rise of Lord Voldemort was dated to.

Cherry had been surprised to learn that even though Magical Britain and Konoha officially became allies with a treaty called 'The Alliance' signed in 1917 two years after the end of the Second Great Shinobi War, they had been largely uninvolved in each other's struggles even then. Something about not meddling with each other's politics, but the class hadn't reached that point in history yet. In the overview Professor Bellowicz had given them at the beginning of the unit, he had just mentioned that Magical Britain had stayed out of the Third Great Shinobi War which was waged between 1967-1972 and Konoha in turn had not interfered with the first rise of Lord Voldemort in the 70s. It was unclear if they would have stirred if the Dark Lord had gained more power, but he was, as was common knowledge, vanquished in 1981 by an infant Harry Potter.

Cherry liked Harry Potter. He seemed really cool and he looked cute with his messy black hair even though he was almost thirty now. Her mum said he was a big shot in the Auror Department at the Ministry, and Cherry liked to keep up with his life in Witch Weekly.

When Professor Bellowicz suddenly clapped his hands and declared class over, Cherry realized she hadn't been taking notes for the last ten minutes at least. She turned to ask Mikano if she could borrow hers to copy but the chair beside her was already empty.

Cherry stowed her dry quill, ink house and parchment away in her bag, thinking sadly if she should confront Mikano on her unexplained, distant behaviour. She looked up, tucking her curls behind her ears. Next to Eren, Sasuke was still seated facing the blackboard though his mind seemed impassively turned inwards.

 _Sasuke's being neglected too,_ Cherry thought, _but_ he _isn't throwing a hissy fit_.

If Sasuke could endure and accept Mikano's strange behaviour and mysterious absences, she could too. After all, Mikano didn't seem unhappy - that Cherry could not have ignored! She just seemed very determined and distracted. Cherry just hoped it would be over soon enough or that Mikano at least would include her in whatever she was up to. She was very unhappy with the way things were at present and resolved to hunt down Shikamaru as soon as possible to nag him about the length of his hair. That was sure to cheer her up.

Engaging Uncle Akari in a letter correspondence on sealing had proven exceedingly easy. He had answered her inquiries with uncharacteristic excitement when she explained how her interest in sealing had been ignited by something she had encountered at Hogwarts - which wasn't even exactly untrue. Her Uncle had recommended a couple of books to get the basics down which Mikano had consumed in a matter of days assisted by Arashi to explain concepts that initially puzzled her.

To her great surprise, she didn't find the math as laborious as she had expected to. In fact, the theory was enticing. The laws which governed runic arrays and seals were complex but often with internal logical when you learned how to wrap your mind around it.

In her letters, Mikano was careful to hide her questions about the complex ward trap Arashi and she were constructing inside unrelated questions on theory and challenges and often among requests for explanations of other aspects of seal theory which her books weren't clear on. Coming up with these cushioning, concealing questions had proven easy as Mikano found herself genuinely fascinated by the subject she had once rejected at the tender age of eight.

But while her knowledge about runes, seals, and arithmancy was explosively expanding, her school work was suffering. She still handed in her essays to avoid detention, but she knew the quality was pathetic compared to her usual performance. She wasn't paying very much attention in class either, caught up as her mind was in the latest knots she and Arashi had encountered. She made a point of taking careful, detailed notes, however, which she would review when she wasn't so distracted.

Regardless of the dip in school performance, Mikano was proud of herself. Just earlier today, she had managed to sense the approach of a spell behind her and throw up a _Tutor_ in time. Emma's dumb expression had been stricken.

Her reflexes and casting speed was definitely improving too, though, as Hiyo had been so kind as to point out repeatedly, the starting had been abysmal.

The trap was coming along too. While the ward truly had been as complicated as Arashi had feared and there surely had been enough hurdles to overcome so far, they were sorting them all out as they went along.

One of the great challenges had been to figure out how to key the ward trap to the three Gryffindor targets specifically as it wasn't plausible to place it somewhere only the Gang would walk into it. It ought to only activate when Hannibal, Owen and Emma entered it, but be safe for everybody else to pass through. The lock on Mikano's suitcase had given her an idea and Arashi had promised to obtain what she needed for it to work. Hiyo was going to take care of another issue when that time came. They would be all set and ready to go in a few weeks. Even the ivy scars, once red and swollen, had sunk and faded, barely visible anymore.

All in all, November was coming along splendidly.

Though Arashi's body was in Arithmancy, her mind and eyes were with Nuru, Nero and Niro as they hurried through the long, wet grass with direction towards the group of students standing in the drizzle. They sniffed out their target and snuck closer, staying concealed on the ground.

Their advance was made easy by the fact that the whole class was fixated on the giant man with wild, grey-streaked hair and beard jostling an equally large beast the mice could not identify. The creature was screeching, tripping and kicking forcefully while the man yelled:

"He jus' doesn' like rain!"

Nuru motioned with her tail for her brothers to follow. They spread out, each zooming in on an already agreed-upon person. They kept a distance of a few feet to their targets, each unplugging a tiny vial hidden inside their vests. Then, at Nuru's signal, they leapt forward, their sharp rodent teeth digging through thin ankle skin. As three shrieks sounded and three human feet were being raised, Nuru, Nero and Niro quick as lightning caught a few droplets of blood in their vials before scampering away.

Arashi smiled, returning her attention to the problem set assigned by Professor Vector. _Mission_ _accomplished_.

A nimble, insubstantial, silver-shining wolf with ragged fur and lolling tongue trotted through the walls of the night-quiet Hogwarts, taking care not to be spotted by any human who might be out at this late hour.

It knew by intuition where to find the recipient of its message and found the poltergeist zooming around in a classroom with shattered windows happily turning every table and chair upside down.

The large, shining wolf sat down, it's tail slapping soundlessly against the stone floor.

"Peeves." Its voice was deep and distorted in the cold, empty classroom. The poltergeist yelped and did a backflip. "I have a tip for you…" it continued.

Mikano was so excited she barely minded the biting December cold piercing through her robe as she and her classmates trotted through the drifts of snow that obscured the path from the greenhouses to the castle.

Tonight, she would install the ward trap and she could barely wait for the hours to pass. It was all planned out. The plateau of the grand marble staircase in the Entrance Hall had been chosen as the location of the showdown for two reasons. Principally because all Gryffindors had to descend it to reach the Great Hall. By spying on the Gryffindor Gang for weeks, Mikano had confirmed Hiyo's intelligence that the Gang never skipped breakfast and that they arrived together nine out of ten times. The second reason why the marble staircase's plateau had been chosen was the satisfying symbolism which Mikano was not blind to. It was only fair that their punishment should be meted out where Mikano had first fallen prey to their violence.

Of course, a number of things could go wrong and Mikano had fretted about them many an hour. First of all, there was the chance that the Gryffindors might for once skip breakfast or simply go each on their own. Arashi would be posted in the Entrance Hall to accommodate for that eventuality: They had taken pains to build an emergency kill switch into the ward which could deactivate it at a moment's notice both before and after it was triggered. Of course, they weren't completely sure it would work. Actually, they weren't sure the ward trap as a whole would work either. Which was another of Mikano's anxieties. She, for obvious reasons, had not been able to test the final product when all its part had been fitted together. She was reasonably confident in her own and Arashi's skills but the ward they had constructed was nonetheless quite experimental.

If the trap didn't work, it would suck. They were leaving Hogwarts in three days for the Christmas holiday which left her only two nights to fix the damn thing if it malfunctioned tomorrow. But there was nothing to be done about that; the ward was as good as it got before it could be tested in practice. Mikano would instead focus on a matter which she could control, namely the setting up of the ward trap tonight.

She went over the operation in her mind once again as she waddled up the steps to the Hogwarts castle gate just behind Sasuke.

She would have to be swift. As she hadn't mastered the Disillusionment Charm nor owned an invisibility cloak (how she wished she did!), the best she could do was choose a time at which the area was likely to be deserted and cast a _Somnus_ , Sleeping Charm, on the nearby portraits. The hour she had chosen was three quarters of an hour before curfew. Her hope was that those who wanted to spend the evening in their House's common room would already have gone there and those who intended to stay out for some reason would remain out until the very last minute.

Setting up the ward should take less than half a minute when first the _Somnuses_ had been cast; she had practised a lot in her mind.

Sasuke stopped abruptly and Mikano, being slightly distracted, walked right into him, knocking his hat off. He turned and scowled at her, adjusting the wet article whose point was slumping to a side. Mikano stuck out her tongue at him and wriggled past him, ignoring the caretaker Filch going ballistic over the amount of mud and slosh the first-years were dragging into the Entrance Hall.

Mikano headed for the Slytherin common room, convinced the hours would be unbearably long if she did not somehow occupy herself. She ought to study for the semester examinations which would begin tomorrow. While she very well knew she was not going to ace them in the face of all that had occupied her the last two months, perhaps she could study hard and grittily enough to at least not make a fool of herself and invite concerned inquiries from her parents.

The next morning, Mikano made sure to arrive at breakfast early and was therefore inconspicuously buttering her second toast chatting idly with Cherry when, suddenly, a loud bang and some very shrill shrieks sounded from the Entrance Hall, quickly followed by a roar of laughter.

From all four tables, a considerable number of people jumped to their feet and ran towards the door to take a look at what was happening, crowding the opening. Mikano grinned quietly into her cup of Earl Grey, the picture of serenity as she bit into her toast.

Sasuke looked at her suspiciously from across the table. She returned his dark gaze with a teeth-flashing smile.

"Lovely morning, isn't it?" The ceiling above was still black as night, heavy, slushy snow was falling from dark clouds.

Sasuke offered her no reply except for an unimpressed, raised eyebrow as he pushed off the bench and marched determinedly, yet languidly towards the crowd at the doorway. Cherry and Eren shared a look before they too got up and hurried after him.

Mikano picked up a chunk of scrambled eggs with her fork, failing to keep a slight smirk off her face as she made eye contact with Hiyo down the table. Hiyo winked at her, deadpan, before looking up to find Arashi joining her. Nuru - at least Mikano supposed it was Nuru and not one of the males - jumped down on the table and offered Mikano a military salute before chomping down a piece of sausage on Hiyo's plate, soon joined by the two other mice.

Mikano averted her gaze as not to be conspicuous a pleasant feeling of victory unfolding in her chest. It wasn't long before Cherry came bouncing back, delight and puzzlement evident on her soft, glowing features. Sasuke and Eren were right behind her, the former carefully expressionless.

"You won't believe it!" Cherry began breathlessly, wonder and elation in her voice. "The Gryffindor Gang-"

"Don't call them that here!" Mikano hushed, glancing around.

"Oh, well," Cherry brushed her off, "then _the three Gryffindors_ " (Mikano gave up on asking for discretion) "are hanging upside down in the Entrance Hall! Oh, it's _marvellous_ , they're all but naked in their pants and undershirts and they are screaming and raging and Peeves is flying around throwing these disgusting, smelly bombs at them, but he made up such a nice song, you should really come and hear it!" Cherry inhaled quickly, "And they're covered in pimples and not just ordinary pimples, but pimples that spell words like 'coward', 'disgrace' and 'stain upon Wizardkind' and all such awesome things, and people are laughing so much and Professor Flitwick was almost trampled while he tried to take _the_ _Gryffindors_ down because they were going all purple in the face."

At this second break in Cherry's speech, Sasuke interrupted, directing a pointed, sullen question at Mikano in a low voice: "How?"

Mikano smiled pleasantly. Why, that Pimple-Spelling Curse was a real work of art. She had found it in _Ingenuity: A guide to spell invention_ by Hermione Granger while researching how to combine multiple spells in a single runic array. That witch was a genius though some of her early works were a little eccentric. ( _Slavery in the 21st Century -Wizardkind's Original Sin_ turned out to be an activist volume on house-elves. Really?)

"Santa must have come early this year," she replied innocently (her Dad thought muggle culture was fascinating).

Cherry laughed while Eren looked confused.

"Later," Cherry told Eren.

Mikano couldn't help bursting out in laughter at the sight of Sasuke's cross expression and her own elation at how well everything had gone to plan. She reached across the table and tugged at one of Sasuke's bangs.

"Yes, later. I'll tell you _everything_." Cherry cheered at that. Mikano leaned closer pulling Sasuke in by the bang before whispering: "But only if you tell us the location of the kitchens."

Cherry shrieked in delight and even Eren had to conceal a chuckle as a snort in his sleeve. Sasuke batted Mikano's hand away, leaning back with a glower. Then his fair face cracked in a grin.

"You sneaky vixen."

"Sasuke!" Cherry exclaimed, hitting him on the arm before being overtaken by laughter that Mikano readily and exuberantly joined in on. She felt lighter than she had in a long time.

Perhaps Christmas really had come early this year.


End file.
